Emergency Immigration Counsel and Mid-Program Case Takeover: An Employer's Guide

Most immigration work runs on a predictable schedule. An emergency is what happens when that schedule breaks. A Request for Evidence arrives with a fixed response date, an employee is laid off and a 60-day window opens, or a case stalls inside a firm that has stopped answering. In those moments the question is not whether the legal work is good, it is whether someone can act before the clock runs out.

This guide is for the employer side of that situation. It covers what actually counts as an immigration emergency, the deadlines that create the pressure, and how a new firm can take over a case that is already in progress, including a whole program at once after an acquisition or a vendor change. The mechanics are more straightforward than they may feel in the moment, which is the point: knowing them ahead of time is what turns a crisis into a process.

What Counts as an Immigration Emergency?

Several situations share the same shape: a clock the employer cannot extend, attached to a consequence the employee cannot easily undo.

The most common is a USCIS notice with a response window.

• A Request for Evidence sets a deadline printed on the notice.
• A Notice of Intent to Deny gives a short, fixed period to persuade the officer before the case is refused.
• A Notice of Intent to Revoke targets a petition that was already approved.

Miss any of these and the case is decided on the record as it stands, which usually means a denial or a revocation.

A denial itself can be an emergency, because the window to file a motion or appeal is short and, if the denied filing was an extension or change of status, the employee may be out of status as of the prior expiration date.

A layoff or termination starts the H-1B 60-day grace period (or until the I-94 end date, if that comes first). Within that window the worker needs a new employer to file an H-1B transfer, a change to another status, or a plan to depart. A missed or late extension creates the quieter version of the same problem: filing after the I-94 expires forfeits the continued-work-authorization protection that a timely filing provides.

Other emergencies come from outside the case entirely. An employee can be stranded abroad in administrative processing after a visa interview. Policy can shift suddenly, through lottery results, a new or disputed fee, or a government shutdown that freezes Department of Labor filings. And compliance events run on their own fast clocks: an I-9 Notice of Inspection requires producing records within three business days, and a site visit from USCIS fraud-detection officers can happen unannounced.

The Deadlines That Turn a Case Into an Emergency

The pressure in almost every scenario above comes from a specific, non-negotiable window. The common ones, as of June 2026:

• RFE: up to 84 calendar days (about 87 if the notice was mailed), set on the notice itself.
• NOID and NOIR: typically 30 days.
• Motion or appeal (Form I-290B): 30 days, or 33 if the decision was mailed. The window to appeal the revocation of an immigrant petition is shorter, 15 days. Our explainer on motions and appeals covers the difference.
• Premium processing: 15 business days (not calendar days) for most I-129 and I-140 cases; EB-1C and EB-2 NIW are 45 business days.
• H-1B grace period after termination: up to 60 days, capped by the I-94 end date.
• Timely extension: filing before the I-94 expires preserves up to 240 days of continued work authorization while the case is pending.
• PERM audit and BALCA appeal: 30 days. The BALCA deadline is firm; an audit response allows at most one discretionary extension, so it should not be counted on.

A few details cause more missed deadlines than the numbers themselves. The clock runs from the date on the notice or the date a decision was mailed, not the day it lands on a desk, so transit time eats into the window. A response generally has to be physically received by USCIS by the deadline, since the postmark does not count. And the deadline never resets because the case changed hands, which is the single most important thing to understand before a handoff. One more worth stating plainly: premium processing buys speed of a decision, not a favorable one, and USCIS can still issue an RFE or a denial on a premium case.

Can a New Firm Take Over a Case Already in Progress?

Yes, and the entry point is a single form. A new firm files Form G-28, the notice of appearance, which USCIS treats as automatically replacing the prior representative on that case and redirects correspondence to the new firm. There is no separate filing to dismiss the old lawyer at USCIS. The forums differ in their detail (for PERM matters a change in representation is communicated to the Department of Labor's processing center, separately from any updates in the FLAG system, and immigration court requires a substitution motion the judge has to grant), but for the employer-sponsored petitions most companies deal with, the G-28 is the mechanism.

Two points may reassure employers who are nervous about switching mid-case.

1. The client is generally entitled to the case file, and the outgoing attorney has a professional duty to turn it over, though unpaid balances and slow responses are common sources of friction.
2. Second, there is no USCIS policy under which changing attorneys triggers extra review. Adjudication turns on the evidence of eligibility, not on who submitted it.

What it cannot do is buy more time. A firm taking over mid-RFE inherits the original deadline, so the realistic constraint is not the G-28, but assembling the substance of a response against the clock. That makes the speed of the file transfer from prior counsel the thing that most often determines whether a takeover goes smoothly.

What a New Firm Needs to Take Over Fast

A takeover moves at the speed of the documents. To step in and respond on a deadline, the new firm needs:

• A signed Form G-28, and clarity on who the client is (the company as petitioner, the employee, or both).
• The case receipt number and all USCIS receipt and approval notices.
• The RFE, NOID, or decision notice itself, with its printed deadline.
• The petition as filed and the full set of supporting evidence.
• The complete case file from prior counsel.

The faster those arrive, the more of the window goes to the work rather than to reconstructing what was already done.

Moving an Entire Program Without Missing a Deadline

The same mechanics scale to a portfolio, which is what happens when a company changes firms or absorbs another company's workforce. A clean transition starts with an inventory: every pending case, keyed to its receipt number, type, status, and next deadline.

From there the new firm files G-28s in priority order, imminent deadlines first, then confirms that notices are rerouting, and has the prior firm forward anything that arrives during the lag. The risks to manage are cases going dark because a notice still routes to the old firm, missed RFE or extension deadlines, and the two firms each assuming the other has a case covered.

An acquisition can add another layer. Whether existing petitions survive a merger turns on the concept of a successor-in-interest: if the new entity assumes the predecessor's obligations and the jobs stay materially the same, a new H-1B petition is generally not required, and the company documents the assumption in each Public Access File.

A material change, such as a worksite outside the area covered by the existing labor condition application, triggers a new filing under the rule from Matter of Simeio Solutions. Green Card cases follow their own version of the successor-in-interest test. Because these outcomes turn on the structure of the specific deal, they are a place to involve immigration counsel during due diligence rather than after closing, alongside an inventory of the target's I-9s, labor condition applications, pending cases, and upcoming work-authorization expirations.

How Manifest Handles Urgent and Inherited Cases

Manifest is built for the speed these situations demand. New matters start with a same-day evaluation, so an employer knows quickly whether a path exists, and every petition runs through a review by a former USCIS officer who stress-tests it from an adjudicator's point of view, which is the kind of preparation that reduces the risk of an avoidable RFE. For a case arriving mid-stream, the work is the same as any takeover: a new G-28, the file from prior counsel, and a response built against the existing deadline.

For a program rather than a single case, onboarding migrates the full sponsored population onto one dashboard with case tracking and deadlines in a single view, so nothing sits unwatched during a transition. The aim across all of it is to make an emergency feel like a defined process with a clear owner, rather than a scramble. What no firm can do is change a government decision or its timeline, so the value is in preparation, responsiveness, and never letting a deadline pass unmanaged.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a new immigration firm take over my case mid-RFE?

Yes. The new firm files a Form G-28, which replaces prior counsel at USCIS, and then responds to the RFE on the existing record. The important caveat is that the deadline does not reset, so the case is still due on the date printed on the notice. The practical bottleneck is often getting the full file and the underlying evidence from the prior firm quickly enough to do the work within the remaining window.

Does changing immigration firms raise suspicion with USCIS?

No. USCIS evaluates the merits of a petition, not which firm filed it or whether the applicant changed representatives.

How long does an employee have to respond to an RFE or NOID?

An RFE allows up to 84 calendar days, with the exact deadline printed on the notice, and a NOID typically allows 30 days (figures as of June 2026). Both clocks run from the date on the notice rather than the date it is received, and the response generally must reach USCIS by the deadline, regardless of the postmark. Missing the date usually means the case is decided on the existing record.

What happens to H-1B employees after a layoff?

A terminated H-1B worker generally has a grace period of up to 60 days, or until their I-94 end date if that is sooner, to have a new employer file a transfer, change to another status, or prepare to depart. The window is capped by the I-94, so it is not always a full 60 days.

What happens to sponsored employees after a merger or acquisition?

It depends on the deal structure. If the new entity is a successor-in-interest and the jobs stay materially the same, existing H-1B petitions generally continue without a new filing, documented in each Public Access File. A material change, such as a new worksite outside the existing labor condition application's area, can require an amended petition. Because the analysis is fact-specific, an immigration review during due diligence is the safest approach.

How fast can a new firm take over an urgent case?

The timeline depends on how fast the prior firm releases the file and how much work the response requires against the deadline already on the clock. This is why employers facing a near-term deadline should start the handoff immediately rather than waiting, since the window does not pause for the transition.

Disclaimer. This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading it, or contacting Manifest Law through this site, does not create an attorney-client relationship. Immigration law, deadlines, and government fees change frequently, and the information here is current only as of the publication date. For advice on your specific situation, consult a licensed attorney. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. This communication is attorney advertising.