☀️ Happy Friday afternoon! Today's newsletter is 808 words, a 3.5-minute read. Hope those of you reading this are en route to a great weekend ahead.

📅 Immigration Insiders Meeting with Doug Rand: If you haven’t already, register for our meeting on September 17th with Doug Rand, former Senior Advisor to the USCIS Director.

We’ll be talking about the spike in I-140 denials for EB-2 NIW, potential USCIS fee increases, and answering your questions!

👉 Small ask: If you find the data and analysis shared in this newsletter valuable, please pass it along to your colleagues in the immigration space and invite them to subscribe.

1 big thing: RFE rates remain stable for employment-based petitions

Despite tougher rhetoric from USCIS, RFE rates have held steady through August across 20+ employment-based case types that Lawfully tracks.

USCIS only publishes monthly RFE data for a handful of employment-based NIVs—like H-1Bs, O-1s, and L-1s.

Lawfully tracks those and more, including I-485s, I-765s, and I-140s for EB-1A, EB-2 NIW, and other subcategories (more on that below).

But for now, let’s look at the latest RFE data from USCIS for H-1Bs, O-1s, and L-1s—and compare it to what Lawfully’s data is showing

First, a few caveats: the USCIS data lags by about 3 months. They report case ‘Completions with RFE,’ which means:

• Officer reviews the case → issues RFE → applicant responds → officer reviews again → final decision issued → case marked as ‘Completed with RFE’.

• That cycle usually takes 1–3 months for H-1Bs, O-1s, and L-1s (premium cases can move faster).

• So March 2025 ‘Completions with RFE’ cases were most likely first issued the RFE back in December or January.

📊 Now, the data: Here is the latest ‘Completions with RFE' data from USCIS.

The problem with the delay: changes in adjudication guidance at USCIS can shift RFE rates quickly. That’s why Lawfully tracks them in real-time.

For each case type, our formula for tracking RFE rates is simple—we divide the total number of RFEs issued by total cases reviewed in a given month. This provides a much clearer snapshot of actual adjudication behavior at USCIS.

Here’s what our data showed:

• H-1B RFE rates ticked up slightly starting in April, but haven’t reached higher than 13%;

• L-1 RFE rates ticked up slightly in June and July, then ticked back down in August;

• and O-1 RFE rates showed a similar trend—slight uptick in June and July, then back down in August.

Interested in more detailed, real-time insights on RFE rates?

📌 Coming soon: we’re launching a premium monthly report for immigration practitioners that will include:

• Coverage of 20+ of the most common employment-based NIV and IV case types

• Detailed approval and RFE rates

• Dynamic, real-time processing times

• Exclusive commentary from former USCIS executives who ran service centers and field offices

• and more!

Stay tuned for details. I’ll have a formal announcement in a future newsletter.

If you’d like to learn more or get early access, email me at [email protected].

🎙️ On the pod: Ingrid Perez, Founder and Immigration Attorney at IBP Immigration Law, helped me break down this trend and other timely topics on The Weekly Immigration News Recap this week. The episode is on Spotify now.

2. USCIS Director Edlow wants F-1 OPT reform—but admits agency limitations

In a Monday interview with the AP, USCIS Director Joseph Edlow cited concerns with the OPT program for F-1 graduates.

Some of you might remember that—in his Senate confirmation hearing in May—Director Edlow advocated for removing “the ability for employment authorizations for F-1 students beyond the time that they are in school.”

But in this interview, he said that ultimately the fate of the F-1 OPT program isn’t just up to USCIS to decide—but he does want to put “parameters” on it.

Shout out to Homeland Security reporter Rebecca Santana at the AP for a great interview.

3. Republicans in Congress ramp up pressure on the H-1B program

Last week, I wrote about how USCIS Director Edlow hinted that an announcement is coming soon on H-1B reform—directly from the White House.

In recent weeks, top Trump administration officials—including Vice President J.D. Vance and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick—have publicly raised concerns about the H-1B program.

Now, Republican leaders in Congress have been ramping up their criticism of the H-1B program on X.

A couple of recent examples from Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rep. Riley M. Moore (R-WV):

Why it matters: I’m not holding my breath for Congress to pass H-1B reform anytime soon—but the topic has quickly resurfaced as a significant talking point for Republican lawmakers and key leaders in the Trump administration.

There’s a lot of smoke, so keep an eye out for the fire (I will be).

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📩 That’s it for this week! I want to hear your feedback and questions, so drop me a note anytime at [email protected].

See you next week!