USCIS may issue an RFE when they require additional documentation to support the case filing. When the legal team at CIP receives the RFE, they will be given a deadline to collect the necessary documents from the employee and/or sponsoring employer and submit a response to the RFE. Once the legal team responds, USCIS will continue processing the case.
💡The RFE Notice is available in the reference documents of the case. If employee need to access the Notice, they should contact Envoy Customer Experience to initiate the process of requesting this document.
Responding to an RFE
The legal team will review the RFE notice once it has been issued to determine what additional documentation is required for the response. RFEs can vary depending on the nature of the case.
After the legal team completes their review, they will add action items to the case for the applicable party to provide. Please note that it’s common that the employer is the only party required to provide more information.
The legal team will send an RFE response once they’ve confirmed they have the necessary information to provide a strong response. Each RFE will vary depending on the complexity. Some only require a few documents, while others may require more substantial evidence.
It is common for the legal team to use the full amount of time granted by USCIS to respond to the RFE. Timelines will also vary based on the amount of time that you and your sponsoring employer are able to gather and provide the supporting documentation.
RFE responses are sent to USCIS with overnight shipping. It typically takes USCIS 60 days to process and adjudicate RFE responses.
💡 Learn more about USCIS processing timelines.
Premium Processing for RFEs
If Premium Processing was added in the initial filing before the RFE is issued, you will not be required to resubmit a Premium Processing request. USCIS will honor the prior Premium Processing filing. USCIS will uphold the 15 business day processing time once the RFE response has been received.
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