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More than any time in recent memory, applicants who have filed for their green cards based on marriage are receiving distressing correspondence from USCIS in the form of a Request for Evidence or a Notice of Intent to Deny. If you are a couple in New Jersey going through this process, receiving one of these notices is not only alarming but frustrating especially when no indication was given at the interview that something was insufficient or when the couple answered most of the questions correctly.
This post explains what these notices mean, why USCIS issues them in marriage cases, and what happens if you do not respond in time.
These are two different notices that signal two different stages of a problem.
A Request for Evidence (RFE) means USCIS has reviewed your petition and found gaps or insufficiencies in the evidential record. The officer has not necessarily decided to deny — but cannot approve the case based on what was submitted. You have a small window to provide the missing documentation and let the adjudication continue.
A Notice of Intent to Deny (NOID) is further down the road and more serious. It signifies that USCIS has already reached a preliminary conclusion: the evidence on file is not enough to approve. The agency is formally advising you it intends to deny — and giving you one final opportunity to change that outcome before the decision becomes official by furnishing additional evidence and addressing inconsistencies or derogatory information referenced in the notice.
Both notices have strict deadlines that can neither be extended or ignored.
Every marriage-based petition requires the couple to prove the marriage is “bona fide” — in other words, that it was entered into in good faith and not to obtain an immigration benefit. USCIS scrutinizes these cases intensely, and the evidentiary bar is real and practically, very high in this climate.
For families in Edison, Metuchen, Woodbridge, New Brunswick, and the surrounding Middlesex County area, the interviews often take place at the Cranbury Field Office. Those who live in Northern NJ counties get summoned to the Newark Field Office and those in South Jersey, such as Atlantic and Ocean counties, go to Mount Laurel. Officers there are trained and experienced at identifying gaps in documentation and inconsistencies in testimony — and they will not hesitate to issue an RFE or NOID when they find them under the current Administration.
Common reasons these notices are issued in marriage cases include:
In some cases, the concern is not fraud but simply incomplete documentation. In others, the concern is more grave. The RFE or NOID itself will tell you which category you are in.
When USCIS has serious doubts about a marriage, the couple may undergo a thorough type of interrogation where the couple is separated and questioned individually. This is colloquially called a marriage fraud interview, otherwise known as a “Stokes interview,” after the court case that established the legal framework for them.
During the Stokes interview, the spouses are questioned individually and their answers are compared. The questions go far beyond what most couples expect and can go into minute daily living details such as how the bedroom is arranged, what brand of shampoo the other spouse uses, what they had for dinner last Tuesday, etc. The point is to identify inconsistencies that a genuinely married couple would not have — and to identify fabrications that a couple in a fraudulent marriage could not sustain under separate questioning.
A NOID frequently follows on the heels of a Stokes interview. If the answers diverged in ways the officer found significant, the NOID will detail those specific inconsistencies and invite the couple to explain them. Responding to a post-Stokes NOID requires addressing each discrepancy directly — with evidence, explanation letters, or both.
Denial of the I-130 petition. If USCIS issues a formal denial after the NOID response period closes, the petition is rejected. The couple not only have to start over, but there may be more serious consequences that attach to the denial, such as denial of an I-485 (if one was filed) as well the following:
A permanent bar on future petitions. This is the consequence most people are not aware of. Under INA § 204(c), if USCIS makes a formal finding that a marriage was entered into for immigration purposes, the beneficiary is permanently barred from receiving any immigration benefit through any future petition — including a future legitimate marriage. This bar cannot be waived. It is permanent.
Referral to immigration court. If the beneficiary is in the United States without status and the petition is denied — particularly where fraud concerns have been raised — USCIS may initiate removal proceedings. An immigration court case adds a layer of urgency and complexity that could have been avoided had the NOID been handled correctly.
A strong response is not a cover letter with a stack of additional documents. It is a carefully structured legal submission that addresses every concern USCIS raised — specifically, not generally — and presents the evidence in a way the adjudicating officer can follow.
In a marriage case, that typically means:
The organization matters as much as the content. A disorganized response — even one with genuinely strong evidence — can fail because the officer cannot connect the evidence to the concern.
If a denial has already been issued, options still exist — but they are more limited. An I-130 denial can be appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals. A Motion to Reopen or Reconsider can be filed with USCIS in certain circumstances.
That said, none of those paths is as efficient or as reliable as handling the case correctly at the RFE/NOID stage. Appeals take years. Removal proceedings create additional stakes and substantial additional costs. Winning at the response stage — before a denial issues — is almost always the better outcome.
Our immigration law practice is based in the Edison/Metuchen area and we serve couples and families throughout Middlesex County, including Edison, Metuchen, South Amboy, New Brunswick, Woodbridge, Piscataway, and the surrounding areas. We also serve clients statewide.
We represent clients in marriage-based green card cases at every stage — from the initial I-130 petition through adjustment of status, Stokes interview preparation, RFE and NOID responses, and removal defense counseling when a petition has been denied.
If you have received an RFE or NOID and are trying to figure out what to do next, please contact our office immediately.