USCIS Expanding the Issuance NTAs
A rejected applicant for immigration benefits will now be more likely to face deportation
By Elizabeth Jacobs on March 27, 2025
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has typically not initiated removal proceedings after denying an immigration benefit in most cases, even when the agency knew that the applicant lacked lawful presence in the country.
That is now changing.
USCIS last month issued a policy memorandum titled “Issuance of Notices to Appear (NTAs) in Cases Involving Inadmissible and Deportable Aliens” (PM-602-0187) to expand its policy to issue NTAs to inadmissible and deportable aliens who have requested benefits from the agency. The notice to appear (Form I-862) is a charging document that, among other things, instructs an alien to appear before an immigration judge on a certain date and specifies the legal authority for the removal proceedings and the charges against the alien. When an NTA is issued to an alien, it is also filed with the immigration courts to commence removal proceedings under section 240 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).
USCIS, like U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), has legal authority to issue NTAs and regularly exercises this authority, but in a limited capacity (see, e.g., INA §§ 103(a), 239; 8 CFR §§ 2.1, 239.1). For example, USCIS asylum officers are required by statute is issue an NTA if they issue a positive credible fear determination to an alien, so that the alien may request asylum from an immigration judge. USCIS immigration officers also issue NTAs with the termination of conditional permanent resident status and denials of petitions to remove the conditions of residence (Form I-751 and Form I-829), among a handful of other situations.
https://cis.org/Jacobs/USCIS-Expanding-Issuance-NTAs
