USCIS facilitates extensions of immigration benefits.

The Office of Citizenship and Immigration Services ( USCIS ) will facilitate the extension of immigration benefits when the cases involve the same people and situations.

This policy returns to a 2004 decision on conditions to extend any visa, work permit or other benefit, but the agency notes that officials will review the cases and, unless there is an error or consider that the facts about an immigrant's situation have changed, you will make a decision faster.

However, in 2017 the government of President Donald Trump rescinded that policy, in order to tighten the reviews of extensions , such as L-1 visas, but extended to other benefits, according to this newspaper.

USCIS ... instructs officers to defer to previous determinations when adjudicating extension requests involving the same parties and facts, unless there is a material error, material change or new material facts," the agency indicates.

Previously, immigration officials considered applications for extensions of immigration benefits “as new”, which could complicate some extension, even though a person's history had been reviewed.

USCIS indicates that its decision ties in with President Joe Biden's executive order "Restore Faith in Our Immigration Legal Systems and Strengthen Integration and Inclusion Efforts for New Americans."

The executive order directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to identify the barriers that prevent access to immigration benefits and the fair and efficient award of these benefits," the agency notes. "Offering deference to prior approvals that involve the same parties promotes an efficient and fair award of immigration benefits."

The decision is reported through the Policy Alert document PA-2021-05 , published this Tuesday by the agency.

USCIS insists that officers, however, will check that the petitions do not contain situations "adverse to the eligibility" of an applicant.

The authorities will also take into account the previous decisions of other government agencies on immigration requests, such as the extension of stay or change of status.

Immigrants and non-immigrants are encouraged to consult with an attorney before filing an application for an extension of immigration benefit, in order to avoid adjudication problems.

With the Trump Administration, USCIS implemented the executive order " Buy American, Hire Americans," which made it difficult for holders of at least 15 visas to stay in the United States .

This newspaper reported that USCIS policy mainly impacted the so-called “non-immigrant workers” of H-1B ,  H-2A ,  H-2B ,  H-3 ,  L-1 ,  O-1 ,  O-2 ,  P- visas.  1 ,  P-1S ,  P-2 ,  P-2S ,  P-3 ,  P-3S ,  Q-1  and R-1, who faced a different process, of greater scrutiny.