US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has updated its Policy Manual to address situations when the last day to file a benefit request or respond to a USCIS action falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or federal holiday. Under the updated policy, USCIS will consider a paper-based filing or response submitted on the next business day as timely. This means that if the last day to file a benefit request or respond to a USCIS action falls on a weekend or a federal holiday, the filing or response will be considered timely if it is received by USCIS by the end of the next business day.
Benefit requestors are required to file their requests or submit a response to a USCIS action within a certain time period prescribed by statute, regulation, or form instructions. This Policy Manual update is applicable to these cases, where paper-based benefit requests are filed on the last day before a beneficiary’s birthday or the last day of a qualifying time period for filing, or in response to a Request for Evidence or a notice of intent to deny, rescind, revoke or terminate within the specified time frame for a response.
USCIS has taken several steps to increase flexibility related to filing deadlines, including this policy update. The update will apply to all benefit requests or responses to a USCIS action received on paper on or after March 29, 2023, and does not affect electronic filings or responses submitted electronically. The policy will not be applied retroactively.
