The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of the United States will publish a proposed rule in the Federal Register this Wednesday that would eliminate the so-called "deference rule" of USCIS, the mechanism that currently requires immigration officials to consider prior eligibility decisions when reviewing an extension application, provided that the parties and circumstances of the case have not changed substantially.
If the proposal becomes a definitive rule, each extension request—H-1B, L-1, O-1, TN, E, and other categories of Form I-129—would be evaluated individually, without a previous approval obligating USCIS to apply the same criteria
The measure, identified as USCIS-2026-0529 and signed by DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, is not in effect yet.
The deferment remains in effect until a final rule is published, and the public has until approximately November 13, 2026 to submit comments at regulations.gov under that docket number.
For Cuban professionals working in the United States with employer-sponsored visas—doctors on H-1B visas in Florida hospitals, engineers and technologists, artists and athletes with O-1 visas, executives with L-1 visas—the proposal introduces an additional layer of uncertainty at an already challenging time.
According to data from USCIS cited in the document, between fiscal years 2022 and 2025, an average of 208,429 annual petitions could qualify for the deferment, accounting for 30% of the total I-129 applications submitted.
Este cambio podría afectar a cubanos con visas de trabajo en EE.UU. Sigue todos los detalles sobre visas, USCIS y política migratoria en nuestra sección de
The most immediate impact would not be economic but rather temporal. DHS estimates that the removal of the deference would generate approximately 6,044 requests for additional evidence (RFE) per year.
The problem is that requests that receive an RFE take an average of 76 days to be resolved, compared to 12 days for those that do not receive one: a difference of 64 calendar days that can leave a worker in a state of uncertainty regarding their employment and immigration status.
DHS justifies the proposal with data on visits to workplaces: in inspections related to H-1B extensions during the deferred period (fiscal years 2022-2025), the combined percentage of fraud and non-compliance was 22.39%, compared to 16.77% recorded in the non-deferred period (fiscal years 2018-2020).
For L-1A extensions, the figures were 24.46% compared to 18.37%, according to data from DHS itself.
It would not be the first time that the rule of deference is eliminated. The policy was established in 2004, rescinded by the first Trump administration in 2017, reinstated by the Biden administration in 2021, and incorporated into federal regulations in December 2024.
Now, the second Trump administration proposes to eliminate it again, acknowledging in the document itself that the benefits attributed in 2024 to the deferment "had been overestimated and not properly weighed against its negative effects."
The proposal is part of a series of immigration tightening measures that have affected Cubans in 2026: the implementation since September 9 of additional fees of $4,000 for H-1B extensions and $4,500 for L-1 for companies with at least 50 employees in the United States, when more than 50% of their workforce holds H-1B, L-1A, or L-1B status; and a parallel proposal to eliminate the 60-day grace period following job loss for holders of H-1B, L-1, O-1, TN, and E visas.
The context is particularly sensitive for Cuban doctors who went through a migratory limbo in 2026: over 300 healthcare professionals were unable to practice, including at least 27 who had already passed all their revalidation exams. This situation worsened due to USCIS's pause on processing applications for nationals from 39 countries—including Cuba—which was in effect from December 2025 and lifted in July 2026.
Before the rule becomes final, experts recommend preparing each application as if it were a first request. Jeff Joseph, president of Immigration Strategy at Manifest Law and former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, summarizes it this way: "Each petition should be submitted as if it were a first application and no eligibility should be assumed based on a previous approval in the same category for the same position."
The can be a useful starting point for those who need to navigate this process.
Related videos:
Filed under: