Responding to USCIS RFEs and Denials Under the August 2026 Evidentiary Standards

Kate Kalmykov, Shareholder and Co-Chair, Global Immigration & Compliance Practice | Greenberg Traurig, LLP

Kate Kalmykov advises employers across industries on hiring and retaining foreign talent, with a practice that includes handling complex cases, Requests for Evidence, Notices of Intent to Deny, and appeals. A Shareholder at Greenberg Traurig and Co-Chair of the firm’s Global Immigration & Compliance Practice, she practices from the firm’s New Jersey and New York offices and brings more than two decades of experience in business immigration. Her work centers on temporary and permanent residency strategies for executives, scientists, and IT professionals, and she has deep experience with the EB-5 immigrant investor program and with employment-related immigration compliance.

• Education & Credentials

Ms. Kalmykov earned her J.D. from American University Washington College of Law in 2005, along with an M.A. in International Affairs from American University the same year. She received her B.A. in International Studies, magna cum laude, from American University in 2002. She is admitted to the bars of New York and New Jersey and to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, and she is fluent in Russian.

• Recognition & Leadership

Ms. Kalmykov has been ranked in the Chambers USA Guide every year from 2013 through 2026 and listed in The Best Lawyers in America for Immigration Law from 2019 through 2027. Lawdragon has named her among its 100 Leading Immigration Lawyers (2023–2026) and its 500 Leading U.S. Corporate Employment Lawyers (2020–2026), and The Legal 500 United States recognized her in Labor and Employment – Immigration from 2015 through 2022. She was named a New Jersey Law Journal “Woman Attorney of the Year” in 2024, a National Law Journal “Trailblazer” in Immigration in 2018, and a National Law Review “Go-To Thought Leader” in Immigration Law in 2022. Super Lawyers have listed her for the New York Metro region from 2021 through 2025, following Rising Stars selections from 2012 through 2020. Earlier honors include NJBIZ’s “Best 50 Women in Business” (2019), Lexology’s Client Choice Award for New Jersey (2013), the New Jersey Law Journal’s “New Leaders of the Bar” (2012), the American Bar Association Litigation Section’s Outstanding Subcommittee Chair award (2010–2011), and AILA’s Education/Conference Committee Co-Chair of the Year (2007).

• Professional Involvement

Within the American Bar Association, Ms. Kalmykov has co-chaired the Committee on Immigration and Naturalization of the Section of Administrative Law since 2011 and served as Programs Chair of the Immigration Litigation Committee from 2010 to 2012. She is a longtime member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, where she has served on the EB-5 Committee (2017–2018), the Annual Conference Planning Committee (2010–2012), and the Distance Learning Committee (2011–2012 and 2021–2022). In AILA’s New York Chapter she served on the USCIS District Director Liaison Committee (2012–2014), as Secretary (2009–2011), as CLE Committee Chair (2009–2011), and on the Corporate Practice Committee (2008–2014); in the New Jersey Chapter she served on the CBP Liaison Committee (2012–2014). She is a member of the International Bar Association’s Immigration and Nationality Law Committee and sat on Law360’s Editorial Advisory Board for Immigration (2022–2023).

At the ABA’s request, Ms. Kalmykov co-authored “What Every Lawyer Needs to Know About Immigration Law,” and her writing has appeared in ABA immigration practice handbooks, AILA materials, ILW, New Jersey Lawyer, the New York Law Journal, the New Jersey Law Journal, USA Today, GlobeSt.com, and Commercial Observer. She contributes to the EB-5 Insights and Inside Business Immigration blogs, is quoted in outlets including The Wall Street Journal, Law360, and The Real Deal, and has appeared on CNN, the Stoler Report, Vietface TV, and China Business Network. Her civic roles include President of the Council of Jewish Émigré Community Organizations (COJECO) since 2016 and board service with the New Jersey Symphony, Helping Hands for Ukraine, and the Ukrainian Habitat Fund.

• Experience

Ms. Kalmykov’s practice is known for its handling of complex cases and for responding to Requests for Evidence and Notices of Intent to Deny and pursuing appeals, an approach clients have described as “outof-the-box thinking, responsiveness and hands-on approach.” She counsels employers on compliance in hiring and retaining foreign talent and on multinational personnel transfers, and she develops temporary and permanent residency strategies for executives, scientists, and IT professionals.

In the EB-5 immigrant investor program, she has worked with developers and funds on Regional Center applications, project structuring, and compliance under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act; she has represented thousands of investors in obtaining green cards through EB-5 projects and has structured more than $12 billion in EB-5 deals, including the largest offering in the program’s history. She also designs I-9 compliance trainings and E-Verify guidance, defends employers in immigration and Department of Labor audits, and works alongside the firm’s labor, employment, tax, and benefits specialists. She devotes pro bono time to asylum, Temporary Protected Status, and humanitarian parole matters.

Lucy G. Cheung, Partner | Goldstein and Cheung LLP

Lucy G. Cheung is a Partner at Goldstein and Cheung LLP, a boutique immigration practice in New York. She has served on the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s national SCOPS committee and as vice chair of its Vermont Service Center Liaison, work that places her in regular contact with USCIS service center adjudications. Her practice concentrates on general immigration law, with a focus on extraordinary individuals, businesses and corporations, international students and scholars, educational institutions, and family immigration matters.

• Education & Credentials

Ms. Cheung is a 2008 graduate of New England Law Boston. She was admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 2008, to the New York bar in 2010, and to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 2010.

• Recognition & Leadership

Ms. Cheung has been selected to the Super Lawyers list for the New York Metro region every year from 2021 through 2026, following Rising Stars selections from 2015 through 2020. She received NAFSA’s Region X Rising Professional Award in 2012, and she chairs the NAFSA ISS RP Travel Subcommittee.

• Professional Involvement

Within AILA, Ms. Cheung has served on the national SCOPS committee and as vice chair of the Vermont Service Center Liaison, co-chaired the New York Chapter’s CLE Committee from 2011 to 2013, and served on the national Distance Learning Committee from 2017 to 2019. She is an active member of NAFSA: Association of International Educators, where she served in the Region X chair stream from 2015 to 2017 and as regulatory ombud for scholar issues from 2011 to 2014. She is a frequent speaker on immigration topics at professional conferences and has been invited to present at organizations and universities across the New York and New Jersey region.

• Experience

Ms. Cheung handles employment-based and family-based immigration matters, cases for international students and scholars, petitions for performing and fine artists and entertainers, and business immigration matters for small businesses and corporations. Goldstein and Cheung LLP, formerly the Law Offices of Eugene Goldstein & Associates, brings more than 50 years of combined attorney experience to its immigration practice.

Megan Guzman, Principal Attorney | Law Office of Megan Guzman

Megan Guzman is Principal Attorney at the Law Office of Megan Guzman. She handles all types of U.S. immigration, including the business, investment and family practice areas. Her passion is finding solutions to cases with complex problems or extensive immigration history – whether that be through I-290B Appeals or Motions, waivers, or federal litigation.

• Education & Credentials

Ms. Guzman earned her J.D. from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles in 2017 and her B.A. in English and Political Science from UCLA in 2014. She has been licensed in California since 2017. She is admitted to practice in all California District Courts, the Ninth Circuit, and the District of Columbia District Court.

• Recognition & Leadership

Megan is the immediate past Chair of the Southern California Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and a member of the AILA USCIS Operations National Committee. EB5 Investors Magazine recognized her among its Top 5 Litigation Attorneys in October 2022, and she has been selected to the Super Lawyers Rising Stars list each year from 2024 through 2027. Her firm is ranked in Immigration for Orange County in the Chambers USA Spotlight Guide 2026.

• Professional Involvement

Ms. Guzman is a member of the Orange County Bar Association’s Immigration Section and the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Immigration Section. She has presented on federal immigration practice, litigation, deportation law, and humanitarian immigration topics at AILA conferences and bar association events, and she published three case commentaries in Loyola Law School’s International & Comparative Law Review in 2016.

• Experience

Megan has significant federal litigation experience in filing mandamus actions for declaratory relief and challenging wrongful denials under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). Her successes include securing temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions.

Prior to working at a business and investment immigration firm, Megan represented individuals in Immigration Court, including appellate representation before the Board of Immigration Appeals and the Ninth Circuit.

During law school, Megan worked for the Loyola Immigrant Justice Clinic where she successfully handled matters for immigrant victims of domestic violence pursuant to U-Visa and defensive asylum cases and advocated on behalf of those wrongly included in the Los Angeles Gang Database in conjunction with Homeboy Industries. She also served as a legal intern at the Immigration Center for Women and Children helping clients with severe mental disabilities in Immigration Court through their Franco project.

Brian S. Green, Attorney | Law Office of Brian Green, PLLC

Brian S. Green is an attorney in Denver, Colorado, who focuses on bringing federal court challenges to immigration policies and regulations, immigration detention, and petition and visa denials and delays, nationwide. Brian is admitted to practice before thirty-six (36) U.S. district courts. He has been the chair of AILA’s National Benefits Litigation Committee for over two years and frequently writes, speaks, and mentors on federal litigation.

• Education & Credentials

He is a graduate of Washington & Jefferson College and Case Western Reserve University’s School of Law. He is licensed in Colorado, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, and is admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court and to the federal courts of appeals, including the D.C. and Federal Circuits.

• Recognition & Leadership

Brian was the recipient of AILA’s 2023 Sam Williamson Mentor Award for his volunteer work with AILA members on U.S. district court litigation. He is the Editor-in-Chief of AILA’s Benefits Litigation Toolbox for Business Practitioners. He co-chaired AILA’s Federal District Court Litigation Online Course that launched in late 2024.

• Professional Involvement

Brian frequently gives trainings on all aspects of U.S. district court practice. He serves as a volunteer litigation mentor for AILA members, for the ASISTA U visa project, and for Al Otro Lado, and he participates in the Minoru Yasui American Inn of Court and the Faculty of Federal Advocates in Denver.

• Experience

With twenty-five years of trial and litigation experience, he represents individuals, families, and companies in immigration-related lawsuits from New Mexico to Vermont. Before turning to immigration law full time in 2007, he served as a judicial law clerk to Judge Ernest J. DiSantis Jr. of the Erie County Court of Common Pleas, as an Assistant Public Defender in Wheeling, West Virginia, and as an associate at Pittsburgh law firms representing corporations including General Electric and General Motors. He practiced immigration law at Murthy Law Firm from 2007 to 2016 and later served as immigration counsel at Taylor & Ryan, focusing on O-1 visas and green cards for academic professionals.

SESSION 1 – Answering RFEs and NOIDs on Shortened USCIS Deadlines | 12:00pm – 1:00pm

This session examines August 5, 2026 USCIS Policy Alert PA-2026-05 and its immediate practical consequences for attorneys responding to Requests for Evidence and Notices of Intent to Deny under compressed deadlines. Attorneys will learn the new discretionary deadline framework, form-specific caps, abandonment consequences, and post-denial remedies available when a shortened deadline is missed. Attendees will leave with concrete filing, monitoring, and response strategies calibrated to a landscape where the prior 12-week RFE safety net has been substantially curtailed.

BREAK | 1:00pm – 1:10pm

SESSION 2 – Challenging USCIS Denials Issued Without a Request for Evidence | 1:10pm – 2:10pm

This session examines August 5, 2026 USCIS policy change (PA-2026-05) that restored adjudicator discretion to deny immigration benefit requests without first issuing a Request for Evidence and equips practitioners with the administrative and judicial tools to challenge those denials. Attendees will learn how to analyze denial letters for arbitrary-and-capricious vulnerability, evaluate the strategic choice between motions to reopen, AAO appeals, and refiling, and assess APA-based federal court challenges including notice-and-comment and reliance-interest arguments. Attorneys will leave with a triage workflow for the 30-day I-290B window, a pre-filing audit framework to reduce denial exposure, and a working understanding of the jurisdictional and procedural rules governing federal court review.