DHS Proposes Ending Deference to Prior Approvals in Work-Visa Extensions; Comment Period Runs to November 13
Washington — The Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services published a proposed rule in the Federal Register on October 14 that would remove the regulatory provision directing officers, when adjudicating extensions for nonimmigrant workers, to generally defer to a prior approval. The provision, at 8 CFR 214.1(c)(5), was codified in December 2024 as part of the H-1B modernization rule: where the same employer, the same worker and unchanged facts are involved, officers generally follow the earlier eligibility determination unless there was a material error, a material change, or new adverse information.
If finalized, officers would assess each extension request independently on the evidence submitted with that filing, and a prior approval would carry no special weight. The change would affect petitions filed on Form I-129, covering categories including H-1B, L-1, O-1, E and TN workers, with dependents filing on Form I-539 also affected. DHS says the change would place the burden of proving eligibility on petitioners and support fraud detection and the protection of U.S. workers.
DHS estimates that about 30 percent of Form I-129 petitions filed in fiscal years 2014 through 2025 were eligible for deference, and it expects the proposal to lead to more requests for evidence and longer processing times. The proposal is not yet in effect; public comments are being accepted through November 13, and the current regulation remains in place unless a final rule is issued.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 移民局总部（马里兰州坎普斯普林斯）员工大会现场，国土安全部官方照片，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons
