The comment period on the US government’s proposal to remove rules requiring immigration officers to give weight to previous visa approvals is set to end on November 13. The department of homeland security (DHS) published the proposal, titled ‘Removing Deference to Prior USCIS Determinations of Eligibility’, in the Federal Register on October 14. The public can submit comments until November 13.
The proposal seeks to remove the requirement for US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officers to respect earlier eligibility decisions when reviewing extensions of non-immigrant work visas.
Under the existing rule, when an application for a visa extension is filed, officers generally give weight to their previous approvals, particularly when an employee continues in the same job with the same employer.
If the proposal is finalised, officers would reassess eligibility without being required to defer to their earlier decisions. Employers may have to provide further evidence about job duties, qualifications, work arrangements and other requirements. Officers would have to conduct a full review instead of relying on, and giving weight to, previous approvals.
The change could affect Indian professionals working in the US on H-1B visas, as well as workers in other categories, including certain L-1 visa holders transferred within multinational companies. DHS estimated that removing the requirement could result in around 6,044 additional requests for evidence (RFEs) each year. Such requests could increase paperwork for employers and workers and delay decisions in some cases.
An RFE does not mean an application has been rejected. Employers would need to respond with the requested documents before USCIS makes a decision.
Ashish P., an H-1B holder from Hyderabad, said: “DHS is openly accepting that the rule makes the system slower and more expensive for everyone. They accept that removing the rule can increase USCIS operational costs and will contribute to backlogs. They are intentionally trying to slow down processing the extension applications.”
DHS argued that removing mandatory deference would allow officers to examine applications more fully and identify cases in which eligibility requirements are not met.
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