Fresh changes in rules notified by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for renewal of non-immigrant visas will severely impact H-1B visa holders.
Petitions for renewal of H-1B visas, particularly when the underlying facts that supported the original petition have not changed, are currently considered with a presumption of approval, but that will no longer be the case.
Consequently, the burden of proof will be on the petitioner to substantiate his application even when nothing has changed since the previous petition.
The new rules are in line with the Donald Trump administration’s Buy American, Hire American policy, USCIS said.
Increasing restrictions on H-1B visa programme remains a point of concern in the India-US relations, as a majority of these guest workers are Indians.
The new changes were announced even as a comprehensive review the H-1B programme is underway.
The new rules will impact all changes sought by H-1B visa holders.
Primarily, an H-1B worker goes to the USCIS for three types of changes to his status - amendment, transfer and renewal
Amendments are sought when an H-1B employee changes the location within the same company; transfer is sought when he moves from one company to another, and a renewal is sought at the expiry of the visa.
The latter is usually issued for three years at the beginning. "…adjudicators must thoroughly review the petition and supporting evidence to determine eligibility for the benefit sought," the USCIS has said.
The previous policy - which has been in force for 13 years - instructed officers to give deference to the findings of a previously approved petition, as long as the key elements were unchanged and there was no evidence of a material error or fraud related to the prior determination.
The updated policy guidance rescinds the previous policy.
