INS and DOL Flexible on Deadlines
Posted Sep 28, 2001

Last week (September 21, 2001) we published an article entitled Federal Agencies' Response to Events of Sept. 11, 2001, which described accommodations that INS and other agencies are making to handle mail delays and other processing issues in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. In this article, we provide a further update from the INS Service Centers and other governmental agencies in response to those tragic events.

INS Service Centers’ Response

The INS Immigration Services Division has issued instructions to the Service Centers stating that, once the U.S. Postal Service and courier companies are again able to fly their planes and deliver the mail, there will be an additional 7-day period during which cases will be accepted as timely filed. For example, if an expiration date or a Request for Evidence (RFE) response deadline was missed, this window (which began September 11, 2001 and ends 7 days after the delivery services are functioning) extends the deadline. The Postal Service and private couriers were declared by INS to be fully functioning as of September 18, 2001, so the window would have been closed September 25, 2001. This leeway is not just for certain locations; rather it is for all cases at all Service Centers.

Local INS District Offices

Note that there is no similar announcement in effect for local District Offices of INS. However, it is reasonable to expect that they will exercise discretion and likely follow the lead of the INS Service Centers in accepting cases within certain time frames following the September 11th incident. Also, for those INS District Offices that were closed on September 11, 2001 (and in some cases for a few days afterward) it would be necessary to accept packages or petitions that had deadlines on the days they were not open for business.

U.S. Department of Labor Response

The Department of Labor (DOL) has announced separately that it will waive all deadlines for this same period, September 11-25, 2001. This policy applies also to the state agencies that process labor certifications. All time-sensitive responses (for example rebuttals, responses to "45-day letters," Notices of Findings, etc.) either to the local state labor agencies or to the regional DOL will be accepted as timely if they are received at either the local or regional office of DOL by October 1, 2001.

Response for Businesses Located at WTC or in its Vicinity

With respect to cases filed by companies or attorneys that are located within the immediate World Trade Center area (including surrounding buildings), INS will for the time being not assume any cases were abandoned and will not deny any cases for failure to respond timely to RFEs. This is a temporary policy that will be discontinued at a later date, as INS deems appropriate.

BIA Response

The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) has announced that it is providing a more limited opportunity to request waiver of deadlines, on a case-by-case basis. When submitting a document that is time sensitive, it is necessary to provide a one-page explanation of the extraordinary circumstances that have caused the submission to be delayed. The BIA will then decide whether to accept the filing as timely.

While the BIA's statement is not as broad and generous as that of the INS and DOL, we at The Law Office of Sheela Murthy applaud the flexibility of the various agencies in responding to this national crisis. We all hope and pray that things return to normal, so that we can look for ways to make us stronger, better, and more united as a nation, working towards making this great country even greater.