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“Middlename” field left blank because you don't have a middlename? No address for your dad b/c he's dead?
No siblings listed because you’re an only child? Sorry, your immigration applications have all been rejected
USCIS's Kafkaesque "no blanks" policy https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-trump-administration-imposes-yet-another-arbitrary-absurd-modification-to-the-immigration-system/2020/08/06/42de75ca-d811-11ea-930e-d88518c57dcc_story.html
No siblings listed because you’re an only child? Sorry, your immigration applications have all been rejected
USCIS's Kafkaesque "no blanks" policy https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-trump-administration-imposes-yet-another-arbitrary-absurd-modification-to-the-immigration-system/2020/08/06/42de75ca-d811-11ea-930e-d88518c57dcc_story.html
A redacted asylum application rejected b/c some inapplicable fields were left blank. Immigrant filled in names of his 3 siblings, but form has fields for 4 siblings. USCIS said form was incomplete because “N/A” was not entered in each box of the row for nonexistent 4th sibling
I previously wrote about this issue in February, focusing on a rape victim whose U-visa application was rejected in part because her son lacks a middle name. Her lawyer resubmitted the form, with "N/A," but by now another child has aged out of eligibility. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-trump-administrations-kafkaesque-new-way-to-thwart-visa-applications/2020/02/13/190a3862-4ea3-11ea-bf44-f5043eb3918a_story.html
At the time, "no blanks" policy appeared to only apply to asylum and crime victim (U) applicants. Since then lawyers have told me rejections or denials of many other forms due to inapplicable blanks. Lawyers adapted by writing "N/A"/"none" everywhere, no matter how superfluous
At least one attorney said she has a client whose legal middle name is now in official USCIS records as “NONE” (as in, “John NONE Smith”). But for the most part scrawling "N/A"/"none" seemed to be working...though adding it everywhere was a timesuck...
Especially since USCIS has coded its PDFs so that in some fields you can only digitally enter numbers, not the letters needed for "N/A" or "none." Gotta write that in manually (or find a typewriter or rubber "N/A" stamp)
Now that attorneys have figured out the "no blanks" booby trap, USCIS adapted by extending trap to people less likely to know it exists -- or motivated to avoid it: law enforcement & medical personnel who submit evidence as part of immigration applications https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-trump-administration-imposes-yet-another-arbitrary-absurd-modification-to-the-immigration-system/2020/08/06/42de75ca-d811-11ea-930e-d88518c57dcc_story.html
In June, USCIS posted alert saying no-blanks policy would apply to the crime victim (U) visa "Supplement B" form. This is form law enforcement fill out & sign certifying that immigrant is assisting w/ investigation/prosecution. Immigrants/their attorneys have no control over it
Immigrants & their attys cannot fill this form out. They can beg or nag law enforcement to redo all their forms, manually writing "N/A" everywhere, but police depts may have other priorities. And harder to get forms re-signed during a pandemic, too, with everyone working remotely
Separately, at least 2 attorneys have gotten denials b/c of blanks on medical reports filled out as part of green card applications. These also are signed by 3rd parties: USCIS-certified doctors. They're submitted in sealed envelope. Immigrant can't check to make sure no blanks
USCIS has not posted any alerts about no-blanks policy applying to medical forms. Unclear if these denials are due to one isolated, rogue official or some unannounced new policy. USCIS did not answer my question about this, basically saying just read the instructions on the forms
Thanks to so many immigration lawyers who helped me track patterns in rejections/denials due to blank fields (or other dumb things, like writing on photo in pen rather than pencil) over the past few months. If you have other examples, please get in touch: crampell@washpost.com
Attorneys have gotten rejections for writing "NA" instead of "N/A," or even for writing "N/A" instead of "none." (Fine print says "none" is for numerical entries only, "N/A" for letter-based ones.) What legitimate data collection purpose is served by this? https://twitter.com/DesignDoggie/status/1291830330140262400
An update on this thread, based on data that came out of a recently resolved FOIA suit on how the no-blanks policy has been applied to U-visa applications https://twitter.com/crampell/status/1320471320468008961
