On Wednesday, March 29, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it will be updating the USCIS 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 these circumstances, USCIS will now consider a filing or response submitted on paper timely if it is received by the end of the next business day. While the receipt date for these cases will continue to reflect the date USCIS physically received the request, USCIS will consider the benefit request timely filed.

In some cases, benefit requestors must file a benefit request or submit a response to a USCIS action within a certain timeframe prescribed by statute, regulation, or form instructions. Examples of these situations include:

• Filing a paper-based benefit request on the last day before a requestor’s or beneficiary’s birthday or the last day of a qualifying time period for filing.
• Responding to a Request for Evidence or a notice of intent to deny, rescind, revoke, or terminate within the specified timeframe for a response.

This Policy Manual update is effective immediately and will apply to all benefit requests or responses to a USCIS action that we receive on paper on or after March 29, 2023. This update does not affect electronic filings or responses submitted electronically, which USCIS will consider received immediately upon submission. USCIS will not be applying this policy retroactively.

We will continue to monitor any policy changes as announced by USCIS.