More than 416,000 U visa applications sat pending with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services as of June 2025 — and on February 23, 2026, the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) filed a formal petition asking the Department of Homeland Security to rewrite the regulations governing the program.

The petition asks DHS to amend 8 C.F.R. § 214.14, the rule that governs the U nonimmigrant visa. CIS argues that current rules and USCIS policies "have failed to ensure that the program fulfills its statutory purpose" and have allowed fraud to spread throughout the program.

What is the U visa program?

Congress created the U visa in 2000 to help law enforcement detect, investigate, and prosecute crimes. It offers legal status to unlawfully present victims of serious crimes who might otherwise avoid contact with authorities, in exchange for cooperation.

Congress capped the program at 10,000 visas per year for principal applicants. Spouses, children, and parents sponsored by the principal applicant do not count against that cap.

Of the 416,000-plus pending applications, roughly 250,000 come from principal applicants and 166,000 from family members. CIS contends the backlog reflects a program that, in practice, has become a target for fraud, misuse, and frivolous applications by people seeking a path to lawful residency they would not otherwise qualify for.

How does a petition for rulemaking work?

A petition for rulemaking is a formal request asking a federal agency to issue, amend, or repeal a regulation. The right to petition is grounded in the Administrative Procedure Act, which requires agencies to consider requests in a reasoned manner.

Agencies do not have to grant petitions. But they must generally respond, and a court can review a denial if it is arbitrary, capricious, or otherwise inconsistent with law.

What changes does CIS want in 8 C.F.R. § 214.14?

The petition lays out six regulatory amendments:

• Define the statutory term "helpful or likely to be helpful" to exclude cases where the qualifying criminal activity is not under active investigation, the criminal case is closed, or the certification came from a law enforcement agency without jurisdiction over the crime.
• Require adjudicators to determine whether a U visa petition connects to an active or reasonably anticipated investigation or prosecution, absent exceptional circumstances.
• Set a regulatory validity period for Form I-918, Supplement B certifications — for example, 18 months — after which certifications must be revalidated if adjudication has not occurred.
• Repeal provisions authorizing "interim benefits," including deferred action and work authorization, for petitioners who have not established a viable claim or undergone sufficient background checks.
• Require U visa petitioners to attend interviews to confirm the veracity of the evidence and information in their applications.
• End USCIS's policy of maintaining a waitlist, among other changes.

What policy changes does CIS want beyond the regulations?

The petition also asks USCIS to take four administrative steps:

• Create an online filing system for U visa certifications.
• Implement enhanced review for applications certified in jurisdictions whose certification rules conflict with federal law.
• End the practice of granting deferred action and work authorization based solely on filing a complete U visa application.
• Create a law enforcement engagement program to educate certifying officers about how the program works and gather feedback on serving its statutory purpose.

CIS says the combined changes would make U visa benefits more accessible to bona fide victims while reducing abuse, consistent with congressional intent.

Who is affected?

The petition itself changes nothing yet. It is a request for regulatory action, and DHS decides how to respond. If the agency agrees to open rulemaking, the process would involve additional procedural steps before any amendment to 8 C.F.R. § 214.14 takes effect.

For now, the U visa program operates under existing rules: the 10,000-visa annual cap for principal applicants, the current bona fide determination process, and the existing backlog of more than 416,000 applications. Applicants and certifying law enforcement agencies should track any DHS response to the petition and follow announcements from USCIS for authoritative updates on program rules.