U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced filing flexibilities to provide relief to certain petitioners and applicants affected by the long delays seen at the USCIS lockbox. These flexibilities only apply to benefit requests submitted to the Chicago, Phoenix, and Lewisville USCIS Lockbox. These flexibilities do not apply to cases filed at USCIS service centers or field offices.

As a remedy, USCIS has proposed the following temporary flexibilities effective until August 9, 2021, USCIS will allow applicants/petitioners to resubmit their applications/petitions in the below-described instance:

  • If an applicant/petitioner submitted an application/petition to a USCIS lockbox between October 1, 2020, until April 1, 2021, and that request was rejected during that timeframe solely due to a filing fee payment expiration during USCIS processing, the applicant/petitioner may resubmit the request with a new fee payment. If USCIS agrees the sole reason for rejection as the expiration of the filing fee, USCIS will accept the petition as being received on the initial filing date it was first received and waive the $30 dishonored check fee.
  • Applicants/petitioners may resubmit their application/petition if the initial rejection caused the individual to be ineligible for the requested benefit due to age due to the time that elapsed between the filing and processing of the case at the USCIS lockbox. If USCIS agrees the delay in rejection caused the ineligibility, then it will accept a new filing of the petition/application as if USCIS received it on the date of the initial filing. USCIS has explicitly stated this flexibility does not apply to Form N-600K, Application for Citizenship and Issuance of Certificate Under Section 322.

Furthermore, Applicants and petitioners can contact USCIS to verify that previously filed benefit requests were not rejected in error. If USCIS agrees, it may allow applicants/petitioners to resubmit an erroneously rejected benefit and accept it as being received on the date the initial filing was first received at a USCIS lockbox.

This is a piece of welcome news from USCIS. As a result of the numerous applications/petitions received by USCIS in October 2020 including Adjustment of Status Applications and the limited availability of resources they had because of COVID-19, many individuals have received erroneous rejections. This is the right step for them to take to remedy issues caused by the delay in processing.

If USCIS erroneously rejected your case or you fall under the above-described categories, reach out to our attorneys at ILBSG today. We are here to help ensure you get the right advice.

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