When the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officers doubt that you marriage or the validity of your green card application, they may, before making a final decision, issue you a Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID).
Receiving a NOID is an urgent matter requiring a comprehensive response to avoid an official denial of your application. Failing to respond adequately may result in USCIS denying yourI-130 petition or application for adjustment of status based on marriage.
This is why it is essential to prepare your response with help from an experienced immigration attorney. Contact Herman Legal Group today +1-216-696-6170 or book your consultation online.
What Is NOID?
A marriage certificate doesn’t guarantee a green card, so don’t be surprised if you receive NOID or RFE.
A Notice of Intent to Deny NOID is a letter that USCIS officers use to explain why they consider you failed to demonstrate eligibility for the requested benefit.
Still, with issuing the NOID, USCIS intends to give you one more chance to submit any additional information and evidence that could benefit your case. You have to act quickly because you typically have only 30 days to respond before USCIS officially denies your application.
With the NOID, the immigration officer who determined you didn’t demonstrate eligibility for the requested immigration benefit lists why they intend to deny the case and provides a chance to overcome those concerns.
Consider NOID response as your last chance to convince USCIS officer of your demonstrated eligibility.
When USCIS Sends A Notice of Intent to Deny the Immigration Petition?
USCIS issues NOIDs to:
- U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents who’ve submitted form I-130 in the U.S. to start the process of getting the foreign-born spouse a marriage-based green card, and
- Couples who submit the Form I-130 at the same time as the immigrant’s application for adjustment of status within the U.S. (concurrent marriage based adjustments filing)
For married couples filing a green card application from within the U.S. (through adjustment of status), USCIS typically issues the NOID after the USCIS interviews at the USCIS office.
When the foreign national spouse is overseas and will be interviewed at a U.S. consulate run by the State Department, USCIS can only decide on the I-130 before it transfers the case.
Reasons To Receive NOID
There are several reasons you can receive NOID, and the letter you get from USCIS will explain all of them.
When preparing a NOID response, make sure that you address each of the reasons listed in the received letter.
If you don’t have evidence that USCIS requires, explain why you can provide it, or if you are waiting for it, provide the letter advising USCIS what relevant documents you will submit when you receive it.
Here are some of the multiple reasons for receiving a NOID:
- The beneficiary and the sponsor failed to provide enough evidence demonstrating a bona fide relationship.
- The beneficiary and the sponsor provided vague or contradictory answers about each other during the green card interview, making the USCIS suspicious about marriage legitimacy. This is why it is important to have the right preparation before the interview and recall basic facts supplied by the each other and other aspects of their relationship.
- USCIS looked through the couple’s social media, public records, or house and found negative information or something that raises questions about the validity of the marriage.
- One of the spouses or both has a record of committing marriage fraud.
How Does USICS Review Evidence To Determine Bona fide marriage or Bona Fide Relationship?
In marriage-based immigration cases marriage fraud is not unusual, so officers don’t just review the evidence you have provided with your application – they also conduct the investigation of your case.
To do this, they use different mechanisms, such as checking public records (property ownership and tax returns, credit reports, travel records, income tax filings, and business registrations).
What To Do if You Receive NOID In Your Marriage-Based Green Card Case?
If you received a Notice of Intent to Deny your marriage-based green card petition, you must take it very seriously.
Handling a NOID means that USCIS will deny your petition unless you can provide evidence to overcome the issues they have found in your case.
In other words, if you ignore NOID and do not respond to it, you can expect a denial of your petition.
Insufficient Evidence
Since this may be your last opportunity to provide as much evidence to USCIS before deciding your case, prepare a firm response to the NOID as soon as possible.
Who Should Respond to NOID?
The answer to this question depends on what phase the case is at.
If USCIS sends the NOID after the marriage based applicants filed the I-130 petition, the petitioner (the U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident) should respond. The immigrating beneficiary only can assist the petitioning spouse in response preparation.
If USCIS issued a NOID to a couple who filed a concurrent marriage-based adjustment application (when Form I-130 and Form I-485 are filed together), it would usually do so after the marriage interview.
However, it can technically issue the NOID at any time. In that case, both people will respond jointly.
The Difference Between RFE and NOID
If you have already learned the Requests for Evidence (RFE), you may wonder how NOID differs from RFE.
1# Request for Evidence
It is a notice from USCIS explaining that you have not submitted all required documentation and that they cannot make a decision based on an incomplete application and without missing information.
USCIS will issue an RFE when the I-130 application missed to but have to provide additional evidence (joint bank statements or birth certificate).
2# Notice of intent to deny
On the other side, USCIS will issue a NOID when an applicant has provided sufficient initial evidence and, for some reason, the USCIS officer does not believe your case should be approved, such as in instances where the officer doubts the marriage is legitimate.
Most commonly, USCIS issues NOID to couples with a Stokes interview when immigration officers interview each spouse separately to detect fraud. Note, that fraud finding or marriages made only for immigration purposes is the most challenging type of NOID.
Also, consider a NOID far more urgent than an RFE. Additionally, it has a shorter period in which to respond.
Based on a July 2018 memorandum, USCIS denies certain cases without issuing a NOID. If you got the denial and have never received a NOID, maybe USCIS found that your initial application lacked sufficient initial evidence or was statutorily ineligible for approval so, in this case USCIS denies applications.
How an Immigration attorney Can Help You?
There is no instant ticket to the lawful status and green card, but understanding how green card process functions can bring peace of mind. If you failed to provide sufficient evidence or miss the response date, it can lead to losing the opportunity to get a green card.
So, the best solution is to go through the green card process leaded by an immigration lawyer. Hiring an experienced attorney can benefit you more than just getting a green card and answering to the due date.
Or, if you already filed and received NOID, we can help you prepare the firm NOID response, or appeal to the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO) or Board of Immigration Appeals, if needed.
The Herman Legal Group has over 25 years of experience working on different immigration cases. During these years we have helped numbers of families to get green card.
Contact us TODAY and book your consultation with prominent immigration attorney! Tell us more about your case, and we will make the winning strategy.
