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USCIS Policy on Report of Medical Examination

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USCIS Policy Manual Update
USCIS is revising policy guidance for the validity period of Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record.

The updated policy, which goes into effect on Nov. 1, 2018, will require applicants to submit a Form I-693 that is signed by a civil surgeon no more than 60 days before filing the underlying application for an immigration benefit. The Form I-693 would remain valid for a two-year period following the date the civil surgeon signed it. As such, USCIS is retaining the current maximum two-year validity period of Form I-693, but calculating it in a different manner to both enhance operational efficiencies and reduce the number of requests to applicants for an updated Form I-693.

USCIS officers use Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, to determine whether an applicant for an immigration benefit in the United States is inadmissible under the health-related grounds of inadmissibility. By specifying that the Form I-693 must be signed no more than 60 days before the applicant files the underlying application for which Form I-693 is required, the validity of the form is more closely tied to the timing of the underlying application.

Additionally, requiring submission of a Form I-693 that was signed no more than 60 days before the date the underlying application was filed may, in some cases, maximize the period of time Form I-693 will be valid while the underlying application is under USCIS review. Officers will still have the discretion, as they have always had, to request a new Form I-693 if they have reason to believe an applicant may be inadmissible on the health-related grounds. Delays in adjudicating the underlying application will also be reduced if fewer requests for updated Forms I-693 are necessary.

USCIS To Deny Cases That Do Not Have Enough Evidence When Filed

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U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today posted a policy memorandum (PM) that provides guidance to USCIS adjudicators regarding their discretion to deny an application, petition, or request without first issuing a Request for Evidence (RFE) or Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID) when required initial evidence was not submitted or the evidence of record fails to establish eligibility.

This updated guidance is effective September 11, 2018 and applies to all applications, petitions, and requests, except for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) adjudications, received after that date. Due to preliminary injunctions issued by courts in California and New York, this new PM does not change the RFE and NOID policies and practices that apply to the adjudication of DACA requests.

“For too long, our immigration system has been bogged down with frivolous or meritless claims that slow down processing for everyone, including legitimate petitioners. Through this long overdue policy change, USCIS is restoring full discretion to our immigration officers to deny incomplete and ineligible applications and petitions submitted for immigration benefits,” said USCIS Director L. Francis Cissna. “Doing so will discourage frivolous filings and skeletal applications used to game the system, ensure our resources are not wasted, and ultimately improve our agency’s ability to efficiently and fairly adjudicate requests for immigration benefits in full accordance with our laws.”

The 2013 PM addressed policies for the issuance of RFEs and NOIDs when the evidence submitted at the time of filing did not establish eligibility. In practice, the 2013 PM limited denials without RFEs or NOIDs to statutory denials by providing that RFEs should be issued unless there was “no possibility” of approval. This “no possibility” policy limited the application of an adjudicator’s discretion.

The policy implemented in this guidance restores to the adjudicator full discretion to deny applications, petitions, and requests without first issuing an RFE or a NOID, when appropriate. This policy is intended to discourage frivolous or substantially incomplete filings used as “placeholder” filings and encourage applicants, petitioners, and requestors to be diligent in collecting and submitting required evidence.

USCIS will continue issuing statutory denials when appropriate without first issuing an RFE or NOID when the applicant, petitioner, or requestor has no legal basis for the benefit/request sought, or submits a request for a benefit or relief under a program that has been terminated.
If all required initial evidence is not submitted with the benefit request, USCIS, in its discretion, may deny the benefit request for failure to establish eligibility based on lack of required initial evidence. Examples of filings that may be denied without sending an RFE or NOID include, but are not limited to:

Waiver applications submitted with little to no supporting evidence; or
Cases where the regulations, the statute, or form instructions require the submission of an official document or other form of evidence establishing eligibility at the time of filing and there is no such submission. For example, an Affidavit of Support (Form I-864), if required, was not submitted with an Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status (Form I-485).

USCIS to Recall Incorrectly Dated Green Cards

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On May 14, 2018, USCIS will begin recalling approximately 8,543 Permanent Resident Cards (also known as Green Cards) due to a production error. The Green Cards were for approved Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions of Residence for spouses of U.S. citizens. The cards were printed with an incorrect “Resident Since” date and mailed between February and April 2018.

USCIS will send notices to individuals who received the incorrect Green Cards and to their attorneys of record, if they have one. The affected individuals should return their incorrect Green Card to USCIS in the provided pre-paid envelope within 20 days of receiving the notice. They may also return their cards to USCIS field offices. USCIS will send replacement Green Cards within 15 days of receiving the incorrect card.

The recall does not affect these Green Card holders’ status as lawful permanent residents. If affected individuals need to travel internationally or prove their lawful permanent residence while they wait for a replacement card, they may contact our office at 513-791-1673 to determine if they need additional proof.

Spouses of U.S. citizens may apply for naturalization after three years of permanent residency and must meet other requirements. The incorrect date on these cards could lead applicants to wait longer than necessary to apply to become U.S. citizens.

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Receipt Notice(s) I-797

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The Receipt Notice is the first document you receive after you apply or petition U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”). Receipt Notices contain information that will help you track the progress of your case. Whenever you hire an attorney to help you with your immigration applications, always bring all USCIS notices with you so he or she can help you better. Receipt Notices are printed on Form I-797, Notice of Action. USCIS prints processing notices on these Notices of Action. These notices include receipt notices, transfer notices, and approval notices. Each looks slightly different.

Notice Type: This tells you what kind of notice this is-receipt notice, transfer notice, approval notice, etc.

Case Type: This states what form this is notice is for. The sample notice is from an I-130, Petition for Alien Relative. This is a “family-based immigrant visa petition” that a U.S. citizen or legal permanent relative would file asking USCIS to allow his or her family member (here child) to come to the United States permanently.

Receipt Number: The receipt number is very important. With that number you or your attorney can check the status of your case on the USCIS website or by calling the National Customer Service Center at 1-800-375-5283. Receipt numbers start with a three-letter code followed by numbers.

The first three letters refer to the USCIS service center processing your application:

  • EAC – Vermont Service Center (formerly the Eastern Action Center);
  • WAC – California Service Center (formerly the Western Action Center);
  • LIN – Nebraska Service Center (refers to the center’s location in Lincoln, Nebraska);
  • SRC – Texas Service Center (formerly the Southern Regional Center); and
  • MSC – National Benefit Center (formerly the Missouri Service Center).
  • YSC – Potomac Service Center

The two numbers that follow the three-letter code refer to the fiscal year the application was received. The next three numbers refer to the computer day it was received. The remaining five numbers are randomly generated for your unique application.

Example: MSC-17-026-12345 – This application was filed in 2013 with the National Benefit Center on the 26th computer day.

You can check on what receipt date the service center is working on for your type of case by clicking here.  You must know the application form number and the service center.

Priority Date: This is a very important date for many applications. If you are a U.S. citizen filing for a spouse, parent, or minor child (under 21), then this date rarely matters for you (only if your child is about to turn 21 would this be important). If you are one of the following, then this date is very important:

  • U.S. citizen filing for a child over 21;
  • U.S. citizen filing or a sibling;
  • Permanent Resident filing for a child or spouse.

The Priority Date refers to your loved one’s spot “in the line.” There are a limited number of visas available each year for each “category” of immigrant. Every month the U.S. government issues a bulletin stating where in the “line” it is processing. To read this, find the preference category on the front of the notice (this will be listed under “Preference Classification” next to the priority date. Then look for your country on the chart to see what the “current” date is that they are issuing visas for. When the date on the chart is later than your Priority Date, you can then apply for the visa so your loved one can come here.

Social Media And Immigration

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The Department of Homeland Security has announced it plans to keep files on the social media activity of immigrants. But Homeland Security officials say this is nothing new. The agency says, it has been collecting social media information on immigrants for years.
“DHS, in its law-enforcement and immigration-process capacity, has and continues to monitor publicly-available social media to protect the homeland,” Joanne Talbot, a spokeswoman for the department, said in a statement.

In the notice published in the Federal Register, DHS says the records it stores include “social media handles, aliases, associated identifiable information, and search results.” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the branch of DHS that handles immigration applications, has files on foreigners applying for visas and for citizenship. That includes lawful permanent residents, or green card holders.

What DHS is not announcing is that they are reviewing social media as part of the background investigation when people are filing for K-1 Fiancé(e) visas and Lawful Permanent Residence (Green Cards).  Although it’s difficult to find out exactly how extensive the powers of the Department of Homeland Security are, many comments made by immigration officials, for example to immigration lawyers at conferences and meetings, suggest that your privacy settings don’t matter – they can look at whatever you’ve posted on social networks.
And they’ve gone poking through people’s social network pages, though it’s not automatic or always done. For example, DHS officials report that they’ve found instances in which the applicant for a marriage-based green card (lawful permanent residence) state on Facebook that their marital status is “single” – a fact that weighs against the applicant.
The other ways an applicant could raise doubts or concerns in the mind of immigration officials are endless – posting lots of photos of fun times with friends but not with one’s U.S. citizen spouse, bragging about having engaged in criminal activity (don’t laugh, criminals have been arrested based on such disclosures), mentioning illegal use of drugs, failing to say a thing about one’s wedding despite having posted about every other major and minor incident in one’s life for the past year, and so on.

Please remember that social media is not private. Avoid posting anything on social media you would not want shared with the world. If you are applying for any immigration benefit, look at what you are posting and see if it will help or hurt you.

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