USCIS Deference Policy Restored

April 28, 2021

The USCIS announced it has updated its Policy Manual, instructing officers when reviewing extensions to give deference to prior decisions involving the same employer and same beneficiary, when there is no material change. 

This update restores longstanding practice, upended by the Trump Administration in 2017. 

According to the USCIS announcement, “This update is in accordance with President Biden’s executive order, Restoring Faith in Our Legal Immigration Systems and Strengthening Integration and Inclusion Efforts for New Americans. The executive order directs the secretary of homeland security to identify barriers that impede access to immigration benefits and fair, efficient adjudications of these benefits. Affording deference to prior approvals involving the same parties promotes efficient and fair adjudication of immigration benefits.”