US work visa overhaul: Proposal to end H-1B deference policy puts lakhs of Indians at risk

A proposed regulatory change by the United States Department of Homeland Security threatens to dismantle a key pillar of temporary work visa processing, setting off alarm across the Indian immigrant community.

Under the newly-proposed rule, federal immigration officers would no longer be required to defer to past approvals when adjudicating extensions for nonimmigrant work visas, including the heavily utilised H-1B and L-1 categories.

Legal experts warn that removing this policy of "prior deference" will subject routine visa renewals to independent re-evaluations, sharply increasing the volume of Requests for Evidence (RFEs), lengthening processing times, and driving up denial risks for professionals whose employment circumstances remain entirely unchanged.

Immigration attorneys say that historical data from previous policy shifts demonstrates how sweeping these impacts can be. Following a similar rescission in 2017, H-1B extension denial rates climbed to roughly 24 percent, while L-1B denial rates spiked to 35 percent.

For the large Indian diaspora in the United States, the potential fallout extends far beyond corporate boardrooms and engineering floors. Families built around dual-income households, children enrolled in local schools, and communities established over years face profound uncertainty.

A sudden extension denial without an alternative legal status could force entire families to weigh painful disruptions — ranging from abandoning homes and established careers to abrupt relocation or prolonged family separation.

The Department of Homeland Security has opened a public comment window following the rule's publication in the Federal Register, leaving employers and workers awaiting the final text to gauge the full extent of the impending procedural overhaul.

How many Indians may get affected

The shift strikes directly at the core of the foreign technical workforce in the United States. Official USCIS data shows that 2.26 lakh H-1B applications for Indian-born beneficiaries were approved for continuing employment in fiscal year 2025, accounting for 77.6% of all petitions in that category. China followed as a distant second with 31,581 petitions, or 10.8%.

First introduced in 2004, the deference policy created procedural predictability by instructing adjudicators to honor previous determinations unless a material change in circumstances occurred, a significant prior error was identified, or adverse new information emerged.

The policy was rescinded during the first Trump administration in 2017, triggering a sharp surge in Requests for Evidence and petition denials. Although the Biden administration reinstated and codified deference in late 2024 to restore corporate certainty, the second Trump administration proposed its removal in August 2025 before its latest attempt to abolish the practice.