TAG

Agency notices

RFEs, NOIDs, and responding to federal agency requests.

IMM-04 · 01

Responding to a USCIS Request for Evidence or Notice of Intent to Deny

9 MIN · IMM

A request for evidence is an itemized list of what the officer could not find in your file. Treat it as a list, answer every entry, and file once — the response window is short and generally not extendable.

An RFE says the record is incomplete; a notice of intent to deny says the officer has already reached an adverse conclusion and invites rebuttal.
The deadline printed on the notice controls, regulations cap the response period, and additional time is generally not available on request.
A partial response tells the agency to decide on the record as it stands, which usually means a denial on the unanswered items.

Read the full brief →

IMM-15 · 02

Employment Authorisation Documents: Categories, Renewals, and Gaps

8 MIN · IMM

The two characters printed in the category box decide almost everything about an employment authorisation document. This brief explains what each family of categories means and how renewals go wrong.

An employment authorisation document is proof of permission to work; it is not immigration status and it does not extend the status underneath it.
The category code printed on the card determines eligibility, renewal timing, and whether an automatic extension applies when a renewal is filed.
Automatic extension on timely renewal covers only listed categories filed in the same category, and its length has been changed by rulemaking more than once.

Read the full brief →

IMM-20 · 03

When a Naturalisation Case Stalls: Delays, Inquiries, and Mandamus

7 MIN · IMM

A stalled naturalisation case has two very different remedies depending on whether the interview has happened. This brief separates them and sets out what each one can realistically deliver.

Delay before the interview and delay after it are different legal problems with different remedies, and the interview is the dividing line.
INA 336(b) gives a federal district court jurisdiction when no decision follows within 120 days after the examination.
Mandamus under 28 U.S.C. § 1361 compels an agency to act on a duty it owes; it cannot compel the agency to approve.

Read the full brief →