Huge Relief As Biden Reverses Trump Policy on H1-B Visa Rejections

The US Immigration agency has announced that it will repeal a Trump-era policy that allowed immigration officers to reject H-1B visa applications without first issuing a notice of intent to deny, a move that will lower barriers to "legal immigration" and benefit Indian professionals. The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US corporations to hire foreign workers in specialty jobs that need theoretical or technical skills. It is popular among Indian IT companies and professionals. Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

The Trump administration increased the power of immigration officials to deny H-1B visa applicants outright in 2018. US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on Wednesday that it was updating its policies on expedited application processing, changing guidance on Requests for Evidence (RFEs) and Notices of Intent to Deny (NOIDs), and extending the validity period for certain Employment Authorization Documents (EADs).

The USCIS said in a statement that it is returning to the adjudicative principles of a June 2013 memo that instructed agency officers to issue a request for evidence or a notice of intent to deny when additional evidence could potentially demonstrate eligibility for an immigration benefit.