Immigration: Biden administration announces end of Trump era reign where USCIS rejected some immigration applications with blank spaces

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Under the Trump administration, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services rejected requests for certain immigration benefits, including asylum and assistance to victims of certain crimes, on the basis of certain parts of the form left blank, meaning that the request would be returned to the requester.

“We will not automatically reject your form if you leave a blank space. However, we may reject your form or your case may take longer if you leave the required spaces blank, if you do not answer the questions relating to the filing requirements , or if you omit any required initial proof, as outlined in the form’s instructions or regulations, ”the USCIS website read Thursday.

The change brings the process back to what it was before October 2019.

USCIS returned to the 2019 process in December 2020, before President Joe Biden took office, in response to stakeholder concerns, according to agency spokeswoman Anita Rios Moore. The agency confirmed Thursday that for all forms it reverted to the pre-Trump policy of blank responses.

Describing the politics of the Trump era, Moore said in a statement, “USCIS implemented this admission process from October 2019 to December 2020 to improve operational efficiency and ensure that the agency had all the information we need to decide on a request or petition. Incomplete applications or petitions slow down. processing by requiring us to issue Requests for Evidence (RFEs), which extends processing times for applicants in need of humanitarian protection.

Late last year, the agency agreed to stop implementing the policy of rejecting asylum and visa applications for victims of certain crimes following litigation, according to the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

The reversal “increases the predictability that these applications will be accepted and seriously considered, as they should be, in determining whether an applicant is eligible for an immigration benefit,” said Sarah Pierce, policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, who added that the Trump-era change “increased the chances that a candidate would be completely dissuaded from reapplying.”

Pierce noted that the Trump-era policy reversal is also likely to benefit USCIS, as it eliminates the extra step of resending an application because part of a form is not completed, which can be quite common.

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