USCIS Conducts Comprehensive Policy Review, Holds Session on RFEs

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has launched a comprehensive effort to review all agency policies with the participation of both its workforce and the public. USCIS invited outside stakeholders to identify their highest priorities for the policy review through a two-week survey that ended on April 29, 2010. USCIS said it will publish a summary of the results later this spring.

Throughout the policy review, USCIS said it will continue to seek feedback from its workforce and external stakeholders to ensure that the resulting policies are “informed, responsive, and effective.”

As part of USCIS’s overall efforts to review agency policies, on April 12, 2010, USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas and the head of the Service Center Operations Directorate, Donald Neufeld, held a listening session for U.S. national stakeholders to review and revise the Request for Evidence (RFE) templates. This was the first time that the USCIS held a dialogue with stakeholders to obtain their feedback on how to improve the RFE process and to clarify any concerns that have arisen due to recent changes, the Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers noted. The reviewed types included the O (extraordinary ability or expertise), P (athletes and entertainers), Q (cultural exchange), and EB-1 (first preference extraordinary ability) visa categories.

At the session, a number of people asked about a January 8, 2010, guidance memorandum by Mr. Neufeld, and expressed unease about the number of RFEs that are being issued on cases that used to be approved. Mr. Mayorkas and Mr. Neufeld replied that they will offer more opportunities for the public to understand the adjudication process while taking into account the needs of employers, attorneys, and immigrants.

Resource: Q&A