The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has put forward a regulatory proposal that could undermine an important aspect of how temporary work visas are processed, sparking concern throughout the Indian immigrant community.
The DHS’ proposal hasn’t been put into action yet. The new proposed rule being considered would allow federal immigration officers to disregard previous approvals when reviewing extension requests for non-immigrant work visas, such as the widely used H-1B and L-1 programmes.
Currently, the department is actively seeking feedback on the “entirety of this proposed rulemaking package.”
“For workers who need an extension to keep working, the USCIS deference policy proposal could lead to a closer review. Officers could review facts that USCIS already accepted once before,” the Vasquez Law firm stated on its website. The proposal put forward by DHS and USCIS seeks to eliminate a specific policy (8 CFR 214.1(c)(5)). “When adjudicating a request filed on Form I-129 (Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker) involving the same parties and the same underlying facts, USCIS gives deference to its prior determination of the petitioner’s, applicant’s, or beneficiary’s eligibility. The department explains that this shift would touch every benefit request submitted via Form I-129. The Department of Homeland Security projects that the rule would generate roughly $133,987 (aprox ₹ 1.2 cr) in new yearly expenses for petitioners, primarily from a rise in Requests for Evidence.
This policy currently requires USCIS to show “deference to a prior approval” when reviewing the same circumstances during visa extension or petition renewal requests. This change would alter how extension requests are handled going forward, according to the US department’s explanation. The current regulation requires USCIS to generally rely on the earlier eligibility determination for the nonimmigrant worker classification “unless there was a material error, a material change, or new material information, according to the proposal. That said, it wouldn’t stop USCIS officers from taking a prior approval into account when it makes sense to do so. “Rather, it would remove the requirement that officers begin from a position of deference to the prior approval,” the proposal says. This rule would also create financial burdens for petitioners by extending the time needed for decisions and adding uncertainty about job continuity, according to the US government.
The US is looking to eliminate the deference policy — a system that lets officers grant visa extensions by relying on earlier approvals.
