dave - bench

Thread: New U.S. visa policies are a major concern for the esports industry in the U.S., including Overwatch League. The new policy stands to provide adjudicating officers the means to deny applications outright without first issuing a request for additional evidence (“RFE”). 1/7

Previously, in the event that the officer deemed information was missing in a submitted petition, the officer would issue an RFE to the petitioner that outlined what additional information/documentation would be needed to approve the petition. 2/7

The move places emphasis on a petitioner’s ability to submit the initial petition with the appropriate and complete list of requested supporting evidence. However, what many do not understand is the arbitrary nature the petition review process was built upon in the 1st place. 3/7

It’s been widely suggested that officers abused the RFE system to table an application filed under rush processing (which forced the petitioner to pay an additional $1,225) because the service was under-staffed and could not meet their 15-day adjudication obligation. 4/7