USCIS Will Offer Relief to Those Impacted by Delays at USCIS Lockbox

Update June 18, 2021

If you have experienced a delayed rejection of your immigration filing which you are unable to refile due to no longer being eligible for the immigration benefit requested, please pay attention to the current flexibilities offered by USCIS. These filing flexibilities are effective for 60 days from June 10, 2021, until August 9, 2021.

Refiling Eligibility

You may refile your rejected petitions/applications in the following scenerios:

  1. The benefit request was submitted to a USCIS Lockbox between October 1, 2020 and April 1, 2021 and was rejected during that timeframe solely due to a filing fee payment expiring while the benefit request was awaiting processing, and
  2. Because of the time that elapsed between when the benefit request was originally submitted and when USCIS rejected it, the applicant, co-applicant, beneficiary, or derivative reached an age that makes them no longer eligible to file for the benefit requested.

Refiling Guidelines

Refilers should include a copy of the rejected notice and a copy of flexibilities announcement below to assist USCIS in properly identifying the refiled package at intake. If individuals believe that USCIS has rejected a resubmission request in error, individuals should send an email explaining their situation to [email protected] 

Original Post June 10, 2021

USCIS announced on June 10, 2021, that it will offer filing flexibilities to provide relief to certain applicants and petitioners impacted by delays at a USCIS lockbox.

The flexibilities include the following: (1) Benefits requests submitted between October 1, 2020 – April 1, 2021 that were rejected due to an expired filing fee, may be resubmitted with a new fee payment; (2) Any applicant, beneficiary, or derivative who aged out of eligibility for requested benefit due to a delayed rejection from USCIS, may submit a benefit request resubmission with documentation.