移民局拟取消工作签证延期的「尊重先前批准」规则：H-1B、L-1等续签将逐案重审，评论期至11月13日
华盛顿——国土安全部（DHS）与移民局（USCIS）10月14日在《联邦公报》发布拟议规则，拟删除现行法规中要求审理人员在办理非移民工作签证延期时，一般应尊重先前批准结果的条款。该条款为《联邦法规》第8编第214.1(c)(5)条，2024年12月随H-1B现代化规则写入法规：同一雇主、同一雇员、事实未变的延期申请，审理时一般沿用先前的资格认定，除非存在重大错误、情况发生重大变化或出现新的不利信息。
拟议规则如获通过，审理人员将对每一份延期申请依据当次提交的证据独立审查，先前批准不再具有优先分量。受影响的是以I-129表格提交的申请，涵盖H-1B、L-1、O-1、E类、TN等多种工作类别，其家属以I-539表格提交的申请也一并涉及。国土安全部表示，修改旨在让申请人一方承担证明资格的责任，并有助于发现欺诈与保护美国工人。
国土安全部在规则说明中估计，2014至2025财年间约三成的I-129申请符合适用「尊重先前批准」的条件，并预计新规将带来更多的补件要求（RFE）与更长的审理时间。该提案目前处于征求意见阶段，公众可于11月13日前提交评论，尚未生效；现行条款在最终规则发布前继续有效。
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.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：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
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