US can reject visa, green card applications for errors or missing documents
US can reject visa, green card applications for errors in documents
A visa application, petition or request can now be rejected by the US authorities in case of mistakes and missing documents without offering the applicant a chance to correct the error.
Other applicants affected are those who want to stay in the US on a Green Card or immigrants, those who wish to stay temporarily and work as non-immigrants, or those who are applying for US citizenship.
The new rule went into effect on Tuesday. The rule has been called a “major shift” by immigration lawyers, activists and those likely to be impacted. They say the new rule could make the procedure more expensive, lengthy, and may even lead to deportation.
It will impact Indians on H-1B or other short-term stay and work non-immigrant visas, who plan to seek permanent residency on the Green Card.
“All applications, petitions, and requests received after the effective date will be subject to the new policy, except for DACA adjudications,” said a US official on background, referring to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals programme.
“This policy change is part of an ongoing effort to help faithfully execute and protect the integrity of our laws, cut down on frivolous applications, reduce waste, and help ensure legitimate, law abiding petitioners seeking greater safety, security and prosperity aren’t undermined by those able to game our system,” said Michael Bars, spokesperson for US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
“It is not intended to penalise filers for innocent mistakes or misunderstandings of evidentiary requirements,” the agency had said.
It replaces an Obama-era rule from 2013 that mandated adjudicating officials of the USCIS to issue REF or NOID in all cases of errors and missing documents unless the applicant was prohibited under law from being advanced to the next stage.
“The net takeaway (of this measure) is that this is fundamentally a series of connected events that are designed to disadvantage lower-income families and increase deportations,” Xiao Wang of Boundless Immigration, a company claims to be the largest provider of deals with marriage Green Card services, said.
-PTC News
