U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on March 12, 2021, that it may reopen and/or reconsider adverse H-1B decisions on Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, that were made based on three rescinded policy memoranda. USCIS said it “will generally use its discretion to accept a motion to reopen filed more than 30 days after the decision, if filed before the end of the validity period requested on the petition or labor condition application, whichever is earlier, and the decision was based on one or more policies in the rescinded H-1B memoranda below.” The rescinded memos include:

  • “Determining Employer-Employee Relationship for Adjudication of H-1B Petitions, Including Third-Party Site Placements (Reference AFM Chapter 31.3(g)(16)),” HQ 70/6.2.8 [AD 10-24)] (Jan. 8, 2010)
  • “Contracts and Itineraries Requirements for H-1B Petitions Involving Third-Party Worksites,” PM-602-0157(Feb. 22, 2018)
  • “Rescission of the December 22, 2000 ‘Guidance memo on H1B computer related positions’,” PM-602-0142(Mar. 31, 2017)

USCIS made the rescissions in memoranda issued on June 17, 2020, and on February 3, 2021.

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