In response to business disruptions experienced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, on March 30, 2020, USCIS announced that the agency would provide a 60-day flexibility period for responding to certain agency requests including Requests for Evidence (RFEs), Notices of Intent to Deny (NOIDs), etc. USCIS has periodically extended this flexibility over the last 2 years of the pandemic.
In their most recent announcement on March 30, 2022, the agency extended this deadline flexibility through August 25, 2022, and indicated that it anticipated this would be the final extension of these flexibilities such that the standard deadlines will apply to RFE issued after August 25th. As such, practitioners are advised to plan accordingly in terms of responding to impacted agency requests within the time frame mandated on the request for any requests with an issuance date after August 25, 2022.
UPDATE: on July 25, 2022 USCIS announced that it would, in fact, extend the agency’s flexibility for responding to certain agency quests through October 23, 2022