RFE Misreading Pattern

USCIS Used the Wrong Pronoun for the Beneficiary

The RFE refers to the beneficiary with a pronoun that does not match their gender as recorded in the original filing.

What it typically looks like

A boilerplate paragraph copied from a template for a different applicant, where "he/his" or "she/her" was never updated to match this beneficiary — often surviving into several paragraphs of the same RFE.

Why it's a misreading

RFE letters are frequently assembled from prior template language. A leftover pronoun mismatch is not a substantive finding about the evidence — it is a drafting artifact. Left unaddressed, it can signal to the adjudicator (on a later round, or on appeal) that earlier objections in the same letter may have been generated with similarly low care, which is worth noting but should not be over-argued as if it undermines the whole notice.

How to rebut it

State the correction plainly and briefly in the response — cite the beneficiary's recorded gender from the original filing (e.g., a passport biographic page or prior USCIS correspondence already in the record) — then move directly to the substantive evidence. Do not spend more than a sentence or two on it; the goal is a clean correction on the record, not a rhetorical point.

ImmiFlo compares your RFE notice against your original filing and flags misreadings like this one automatically — you confirm or reject each finding before it's used in your response letter.

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