H-1B: Visa Extensions Will Be Smoother As Trump-Era Memo Is Revoke

The USCIS on Tuesday issued policy guidance instructing officers to defer to previous approvals while extending work visas.

The US immigration agency has basically restored its policy guidance issue in 2004 that was rescinded by the Trump government. In 2017, the USCIS rescinded the 2004 guidance, treating each visa extension request as a new application. This requirement led to an increase in additional documentation that increased administrative burden and costs for sponsoring employers.

The agency said that the update in its policy has been made in accordance with US President Joe Biden’s executive order titled ‘Restoring Faith in Our Legal Immigration Systems and Strengthening Integration and Inclusion Efforts for New Americans’.

The executive order, issued in February, had directed the secretary of homeland security to identify barriers that impede access to immigration benefits and fair, efficient adjudications of these benefits.

The Biden administration has undone several Trump-era immigration policies, including the suspension of employment-based nonimmigrant visas. In early April, the US department of state announced that H-1B applicants who were denied a visa due to travel ban can now reapply by submitting a new application.