Ethiopia Update Issued by USCIS Office of Public Engagement

Dear Stakeholder:

The USCIS team in Addis Ababa completed its site visit. We are pleased to report that the team was able to complete its review of all of the “not clearly approvable” cases that were awaiting their review. The following provides an overview of the results of their work. It is important to note that approximately 50 percent of the cases approved received additional evidence between the time Department of State referred the case to USCIS and the team’s review, which addressed concerns raised by the Department of State in their referral of the case.

Total # of Cases Referred to USCIS as NCA: 65 (one case that was on the list to be referred was subsequently approved by Embassy Addis Ababa upon completion of the field investigation.)

Approvals Issued: 49

Requests for Evidence Issued: 15

Notices of Intent to Deny Issued: 1

We are aware that a number of families have expressed concern or inquired as to why cases with RFEs or NOIDs will be processed further from USCIS District Office Rome. The USCIS team determined that the District Office in Rome would be a better central location for the ongoing USCIS processing of the cases because that office has more staffing and equipment and better communications connectivity than does USCIS Field Office Nairobi. In an effort to ensure the timeliest processing of all of the outstanding cases, Rome will handle the RFE/NOID responses and share them with the team members so that the cases can be completed. Going forward, as Embassy Addis Ababa identifies new cases that are “not clearly approvable,” those cases will be transferred to Field Office Nairobi unless/until resource constraints again arise such that we determine that we can provide more timely responses by transferring the cases to another location.

Kind Regards,

Office of Public Engagement

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

www.uscis.gov