Notice of Intent to Deny
You got a NOID. Here's what it means and what to do before the date on it.
A Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID) is a USCIS letter saying the officer plans to deny your petition or application, and why. Your case is still open: you get one chance to answer, by the date printed on the notice, and that date can be no more than 30 days out.
Three notices, three different positions
An RFE and a NOID both leave your case open. A denial closes it. The deadlines are different for each.
| Question | RFE | NOID | Denial |
|---|---|---|---|
| What USCIS is telling you | The record doesn't show you qualify yet. Send more. | The officer intends to deny, and the notice states the reasons. | USCIS has decided against you. |
| Is the case still open? | Yes | Yes | No. The decision has been made. |
| Your deadline | The date on the notice. Never more than 12 weeks. | The date on the notice. Never more than 30 days. | Appeal or motion, generally within 30 days (33 if the decision was mailed). Most USCIS denials use Form I-290B; family petitions appealed to the Board use Form EOIR-29. |
| Can you get more time? | No | No | No. A late appeal is rejected unless it qualifies as a motion to reopen or reconsider, in which case USCIS decides it as a motion. A late motion to reopen is excused only if the delay was reasonable and beyond your control. |
| If you do nothing | Denial as abandoned, on the record, or both. | Denial as abandoned, on the record, or both. | The denial stands. |
The Deadline
The date on your notice controls. It is 30 days out at most.
USCIS sets the response date and prints it on the NOID. The regulation caps it at 30 days and bars extensions. A Request for Evidence can run up to 12 weeks; a NOID can't.
If USCIS mailed the notice, three days are added to the period it gives you. With a 30-day notice, a response USCIS receives within 33 days of the mailing date counts as on time. Service is complete on the day USCIS mails it, not the day it reaches you. A response filed through your USCIS online account counts on the day you submit it.
Treat the printed date as the real deadline and don't plan around the extra three days.
By that date, you can:
- Send a complete response with everything the notice asks for.
- Send part of it. USCIS treats that as a request to decide the case on what it has.
- Withdraw the petition or application.
Miss the date and USCIS can deny the case as abandoned, on the record, or both.
How to answer a NOID, step by step
- 01
Find the date and work backward from it
The response date is printed on the notice. Put it on your calendar, then set your own deadline a week earlier for shipping or uploading. You can't get an extension.
- 02
Get the record exactly as filed
You need the petition, every exhibit and any earlier RFE response, in the form USCIS received them. If a former lawyer or preparer holds the file, ask for it today.
- 03
List every reason the officer gives
Number each ground in the notice. Each one gets its own answer. A response that skips a ground leaves the officer free to deny on it.
- 04
Answer with evidence, argument, or both
Some grounds need new documents. Others need a reply showing the officer misread the rule or the record. New evidence has to show you were eligible when you filed, not that you became eligible later.
- 05
Deal with anything adverse head-on
If the notice relies on information you didn't know USCIS had, such as a site visit or a statement from a third party, this is your chance to rebut it. Address it directly.
- 06
Send one package, with the NOID on top
Everything goes in at once, with the original notice on top. USCIS won't wait for a second mailing, and a partial response is treated as a request to decide on the record.
- 07
Make sure it arrives, and keep proof
Mail with tracking, or upload through your online account if the case is online. Keep the delivery confirmation or submission receipt.
- 08
Ask whether withdrawing is the better move
Sometimes the honest answer is that the gap can't be fixed in this filing. Withdrawing avoids a denial on the record, but the withdrawn filing's priority date can't be used for a later one. Weigh both before you decide.
A NOID is answered the way an RFE is: read it beside the petition as filed, then answer every ground. Our RFE response page explains how we take over short-deadline USCIS notices, and the RFE Encyclopedia decodes the objection language officers reuse in both kinds of notice.
After Approval
Notice of intent to revoke (NOIR)
A Notice of Intent to Revoke (NOIR) is the same idea after approval. USCIS may revoke an approved immigrant petition, such as an I-140 or I-130, for "good and sufficient cause," but it has to tell the petitioner first and give them the chance to offer evidence against the grounds.
The regulation doesn't set a response period for a NOIR. USCIS policy caps it at 30 days, and if the notice is mailed, three days are added, so with a 30-day notice a response that arrives within 33 days of mailing is on time. As with a NOID, use the date on the notice.
If USCIS goes ahead and revokes, it must send a written decision giving its reasons. The appeal window is shorter than for a denial: 15 days after the decision is served, or 18 days if it was mailed.
Some revocations are automatic and come with no NOIR. One example: an employer withdraws an I-140 less than 180 days after approval, before any related adjustment application has been pending 180 days.
This section covers immigrant petitions. Revoking an approved H-1B, O-1 or other nonimmigrant petition follows separate rules.
The Law
Where these rules come from
- 8 C.F.R. § 103.2(b)(8), (11)–(16) ↗
- 8 C.F.R. § 103.8(b) ↗
- 8 C.F.R. §§ 205.1, 205.2 ↗
- USCIS Policy Manual, Vol. 1, Part E, Ch. 6 and Ch. 10 ↗
- Form I-290B instructions ↗
This page is general information, not legal advice about your case.
Frequently Asked Questions
The date on your notice is enough to start.
Send us the response date and what the NOID says. We look at the deadline and scope first, before asking for the full record.
Send Us Your Deadline