High-skilled denials rise
- USCIS has reportedly increased denial rates for employment-based green cards and temporary high-skilled visas. - Forbes reports rising denials across H-1B and employment-based adjudications, signaling tougher review on high-skilled filings. - Employers and sponsored workers are now facing a more skeptical adjudicator environment, increasing documentation and evidentiary demands (forbes.com)
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is denying more petitions in several high-skill immigration categories, according to a new analysis of the agency’s fiscal 2025 data. (nfap.com) The National Foundation for American Policy said the denial rate for EB-1 petitions for people of “extraordinary ability” rose from 25.6% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 to 46.6% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025. It said denials for EB-2 national interest waivers rose from 38.8% to 64.3% over the same period. (nfap.com) The same NFAP analysis found denials also increased for O visas, used by people with extraordinary ability, from 5.0% to 7.3%, and for L-1 transfers of executives, managers, and specialized-knowledge workers. Forbes reported the shift on April 22, citing tougher adjudications and heavier evidence demands. (nfap.com) These categories sit outside the annual H-1B lottery and often serve researchers, founders, physicians, multinational managers, and other workers who already have employers, awards, publications, or advanced degrees. A denial in one of them can block both a job start date and, in some cases, a path to permanent residence. (uscis.gov) The pattern is not uniform across all high-skill filings. NFAP said H-1B denials have not spiked in President Donald Trump’s second term, and USCIS’s H-1B Employer Data Hub says first-decision data now runs through fiscal 2026 quarter 1. (nfap.com) (uscis.gov) That distinction matters because H-1B has become the best-known high-skill visa, but many of the sharpest increases are showing up in smaller categories that depend more on officer judgment about merit, national importance, or specialized expertise. USCIS updated its policy guidance for EB-2 national interest waivers on January 15, 2025, clarifying how officers evaluate eligibility and evidence. (uscis.gov) USCIS has not announced a rule changing the legal standard for these categories in 2026. NFAP said the increase reflects “policy choices” inside the agency, while immigration lawyers quoted in recent coverage described a more skeptical review climate and more time-consuming filings. (nfap.com) (msn.com) The broader system is also slowing. NFAP said USCIS ended fiscal 2025 with a net backlog of 6.3 million applications, up 65% from a year earlier, including increases in pending I-129 temporary-worker petitions and I-140 immigrant-worker petitions. (nfap.com) For employers, that means more filings may now require extra letters, expert opinions, publication records, contracts, or proof that a worker’s role meets a narrow legal test. For sponsored workers, the same petition categories that once looked like alternatives to the H-1B bottleneck now carry more uncertainty at the decision stage. (uscis.gov) (nfap.com)
