USCIS Issues Policy Guidance on Deference to Previous Decisions

USCIS is issuing policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual instructing officers to give deference to prior determinations when adjudicating extension requests involving the same parties and facts unless there was a material error, material change, or new material facts.

With this update, USCIS is reverting in substance to prior long-standing guidance issued in 2004, which directed officers to generally defer to prior determinations of eligibility when adjudicating extension requests involving the same parties and facts as the initial petition or application. In 2017, USCIS rescinded the 2004 guidance.

Read more at: https://www.uscis.gov/news/alerts/uscis-issues-policy-guidance-on-deference-to-previous-decisions

Contact Darren Heyman, immigration attorney, for more information.

DHS Seeks Public Input to Identify Barriers that Limit or Prevent Access to Immigration Benefits and

WASHINGTON—The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is seeking comment from the public on how U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) can reduce barriers that prevent both U.S. and foreign citizens from obtaining access to the full assortment of legally available immigration services and benefits.

DHS published a Request for Public Input in the Federal Register seeking the public’s input on barriers to USCIS benefits and services, including but not limited to adjustment of status, naturalization, H-1B nonimmigrant status, refugee status, asylum, and parole. A central goal of the Request for Public Input is to promote equity, above all by reducing administrative burdens, undue complexity, unnecessary confusion, and processing and waiting times. The department requests feedback about any regulations or processes that disproportionally burden disadvantaged, vulnerable, or marginalized communities. Read more at: https://www.uscis.gov/news/news-releases/dhs-seeks-public-input-to-identify-barriers-that-limit-or-prevent-access-to-immigration-benefits-and

Contact Darren Heyman, immigration attorney, for more information.

DHS to Make Additional 22,000 Temporary, Non-Agricultural Worker Visas Available

WASHINGTON— As the nation’s economy continues to reopen safely, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is taking action to ensure that American businesses are equipped with the resources needed to recover successfully and contribute to the economic health of local communities. In light of increased labor demands, DHS is announcing a supplemental increase of 22,000 visas for the H-2B Temporary Non-Agricultural Worker program. The additional visas will be made available in the coming months via a temporary final rule in the Federal Register. Furthermore, to expand lawful pathways for opportunity in the United States consistent with the President’s Executive Order 14010 on “Creating a Comprehensive Regional Framework to Address the Causes of Migration, to Manage Migration Throughout North and Central America, and to Provide Safe and Orderly Processing of Asylum Seekers at the United States Border,” 6,000 of these visas will be reserved for nationals of the Northern Triangle countries of Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala.

Read more at: https://www.dhs.gov/news/2021/04/20/dhs-make-additional-22000-temporary-non-agricultural-worker-visas-available

Contact Darren Heyman, immigration attorney, for more information.