Focused on cases where USCIS has raised a problem.
ImmigrationRFE.com is a legal resource devoted to USCIS Requests for Evidence, Notices of Intent to Deny, Notices of Intent to Revoke, denials, appeals, and motions. The site is maintained by The Messersmith Law Firm, P.A., a law practice focused on U.S. immigration matters.
Send Us Your NoticeU.S. immigration law representation.
Immigration cases often become most difficult after USCIS raises an issue.
Many immigration websites focus primarily on how to qualify for a visa, green card, or immigration benefit. ImmigrationRFE.com focuses on a different stage of the process: what happens when USCIS questions the filing, proposes an adverse finding, seeks to revoke an approval, or denies the case.
An RFE, NOID, NOIR, or denial frequently requires more than gathering additional documents. The notice may involve interpretation of the underlying legal standard, factual discrepancies, credibility issues, prior immigration records, adverse information, or the weight USCIS assigns to existing evidence.
The purpose of this site is to help applicants, petitioners, employers, professionals, and families understand those problems and the procedures available to address them.
From the first adverse notice through post-decision review.
ImmigrationRFE.com is organized around the procedural stage of the USCIS case.
Build the Record
Analyze what USCIS believes is missing or insufficient and develop evidence directed to the disputed eligibility requirements.
Answer the Proposed Denial
Examine the factual and legal basis on which USCIS intends to deny and develop a response addressing each proposed finding.
Defend the Approval
Determine why USCIS is revisiting an approved petition and rebut the grounds on which the agency proposes revocation.
Evaluate the Remedy
Review the final decision and determine whether an appeal, motion, refiling, or another procedure is available and strategically appropriate.
Peter Messersmith
Immigration law has been the focus of the practice for more than two decades.
Peter Messersmith has practiced law continuously since 2002, and his practice is limited to U.S. immigration matters. The firm represents individuals, families, professionals, entrepreneurs, and businesses before U.S. immigration agencies.
The firm's work includes employment and family immigration, adjustment of status, waivers, extraordinary ability and national interest waiver petitions, nonimmigrant employment classifications, inadmissibility issues, naturalization matters, and cases involving adverse USCIS adjudications.
That broader immigration experience is particularly important when responding to an RFE, NOID, NOIR, or denial because the procedural notice cannot be separated from the substantive immigration requirement USCIS is applying.
Learn more about Peter Messersmith →Start with the notice, the record, and the law.
Identify the Actual Issue
Separate USCIS's notice into specific factual, evidentiary, and legal findings.
Review the Existing Record
Compare USCIS's description of the case to the petition, evidence, interviews, prior responses, and procedural history.
Apply the Correct Standard
Determine what the statute, regulations, precedent, and applicable agency policy actually require.
Build Targeted Evidence
Develop evidence that directly addresses the disputed requirement rather than simply increasing the volume of documents.
Prepare for the Next Stage
When appropriate, structure the response with the possibility of a later denial, appeal, motion, or other review in mind.