New Delhi, Oct. 14 -- The Trump administration has proposed scrapping a rule that requires US immigration authorities to generally defer to their previous eligibility decisions when adjudicating certain nonimmigrant worker petition extensions, potentially increasing scrutiny of H-1B applications and other employment-based immigration requests.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), through US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), published a proposed rule on October 14 seeking to remove Section 8 CFR 214.1(c)(5), which requires immigration officers to generally respect earlier eligibility determinations when the same parties and underlying facts are involved.

The proposal would require USCIS officers to independently assess ...