An RFI is a question, not a verdict. The analyst reviewing the application wants something clarified before deciding it, and the case leaves the ordinary queue until the answer arrives. That's the whole of what the status says. Everything else people read into it, including that the case is in trouble, is not in the record.
Of the RFIs that reached a decision, 1,799 of 2,153 ended certified
Measured over the cases this site watched enter RFI ISSUED and then reach a final status, from August 2026 on. The number moves as more resolve; the current figure is on the RFI and audit page.
What DOL is doing
The regulation, 20 CFR 656.20(d), lets the Certifying Officer request supplemental information or documentation at any point before a final determination. That's the hook. The letters themselves ask about the job: why a requirement is normal for the occupation, what a duty involves, whether a worksite is what the form says. Sometimes the question is about the recruitment, but that's more often an audit's territory.
An RFI is lighter than an audit, and DOL runs the two as separate statuses in separate queues. An audit calls in the whole recruitment file under 656.20(a) and carries a fixed 30-day clock. An RFI asks a question and the letter sets its own date. If your status is PENDING AUDIT RESPONSE rather than RFI ISSUED, you're in the other process, and the RFI deadline calculator counts the audit's 30 days.
Where the deadline comes from
The regulation sets no window for an RFI. The letter does. That has two consequences:
- The date on the letter is the date that counts, not the day anyone opened it.
- Nothing on a public page can tell you the deadline for your case. Only the letter and the attorney who received it can.
Missing it is how a case that was going to be certified gets denied instead. The response goes back through whoever filed the case; a beneficiary can't answer an RFI directly, because the employer is the applicant.
What the record shows about RFIs
| Measured, as of September 8, 2026 | |
|---|---|
| Cases at RFI ISSUED right now | 976 |
| Median time since filing for a case sitting at one | 358 days |
| Share of resolved RFIs that ended certified | 84% (1,799 of 2,153) |
| Half of the resolved RFIs resolved within | 33 days |
Two things those numbers do and don't say. The 84% is a rate over cases that resolved, and a case that's still open is not in it, so it isn't your personal probability. And "358 days since filing" measures how old the cases are that currently carry the status, not how long an RFI lasts; most of that year was spent in the ordinary queue before the RFI went out.
What you can do while it's open
Get the letter's date and its question from the attorney
The employer received it, not you. Ask for the date on the letter and what it asks. The date is your deadline; the question tells you whether anything is needed from you, which is rare, but a résumé detail or a degree evaluation sometimes is.
Watch the status, not the calendar
DOL doesn't announce when the answer was received or when the analyst picked it back up. The status changes when the determination is made. The case status page reads DOL's index daily and can email you when it moves.
Don't read the wait as a signal
Half of the resolved RFIs cleared within 33 days, and the other half took longer. A long wait after the response goes in is the analyst's queue, not a judgment on the answer.
What this guide can't tell you
- Why your case got an RFI. DOL doesn't publish the reason, and the letter is the only record of it.
- Your deadline. It's on the letter and nowhere else.
- Whether your case will be certified. The 84% is a population rate, and the population is the cases that already resolved.
Related
- Every case status, explained for the status beside the ones around it.
- Read the denial and audit rates for how the audit and RFI shares are measured.
- What Application On Hold means if the status moved there instead.
Get an email when the status changes
Enter the case number once. The site checks DOL's index every day and writes to you when the status moves, nothing else.
Look up the case
