What a Request for Evidence means

A Request for Evidence arrives in a plain envelope and reads like bad news. It is not a decision. USCIS's glossary says the agency may send one when you did not submit all the required evidence, when the evidence you submitted is no longer valid, or when the officer needs more information to determine your eligibility. The Policy Manual puts the purpose in one sentence: to obtain necessary evidence or elicit further information that clarifies whether the requestor has met the burden of proof.

What the notice contains

An RFE identifies the case by receipt number, states what evidence is missing or insufficient, and gives a deadline. The specificity varies. Some ask for a single document, such as a birth certificate with a certified translation. Others, common in employment cases, run to several pages and ask the petitioner to establish an element of eligibility from several angles.

The clock

Under the Policy Manual, the maximum response time for an RFE is 12 weeks, or 84 days, and regulations prohibit officers from granting additional time. When the notice is served by mail, three days are added, making the effective deadline 87 days. The date printed on the notice controls. A response postmarked on time but received after the deadline is a risk; USCIS's practice is to decide on what is in the file when the period ends.

What happens if you do not answer

The manual lists the options. If the requestor fails to respond within the deadline, USCIS may deny the benefit request as abandoned, deny it based on the record, or deny it for both reasons. A denial for abandonment cannot be appealed, though a motion to reopen may be possible. That is why an incomplete but timely response is better than a complete one that is late: a timely response keeps the case alive and preserves the right to a reasoned decision.

RFE versus Notice of Intent to Deny

The two notices are often confused and they are not the same document. An RFE asks for evidence because the officer has not yet reached a conclusion. A Notice of Intent to Deny tells the requestor of an intended denial because of a determination of ineligibility: the officer has read the file, concluded the person does not qualify, and is giving a last chance to rebut. The response period for a NOID is 30 days, or 33 days when served by mail, and it too cannot be extended.

Answering well

The response should address each item the notice raises, in the order raised, with a cover letter that lists what is enclosed. Evidence that was already in the file can be referenced by page rather than resubmitted, but anything new must be included in full. Where a document does not exist, the response should say so and explain, with secondary evidence where the regulations allow it. USCIS does not accept a second, supplemental response once the first is received, so the package is sent once, complete, with tracking.

The H-1B tracker carries the cap-season dates for the petitions that draw the largest number of RFEs each year.