Tag: immigration ban

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Trump’s Covid-related Immigration Ban has Expired: Will All Visa Processing Begin Again?

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Presidential Proclamation 10052, which temporarily suspended the entry of certain H-1B, H-2B, J (for certain categories within the Exchange Visitor Program), and L nonimmigrants, expired on March 31, 2021.

According to the U.S. Department of State, visa applicants who have not yet been interviewed or scheduled for an interview will have their applications prioritized and processed in accordance with existing phased resumption of visa services guidance.  

The U.S. Embassy in Manila maintains limited routinary services given the current local condition in the Philippines and given the limited staffing resources. There is no specific date when the U.S. Embassy in Manila will resume full routinary visa services but the consular officer will continue to  provide emergency and mission-critical visa services.

As of March 15, 2021, the U.S. Embassy in Manila is processing the following limited number of cases: 

Immigrant Visa:  

  • Cases for applicants previously interviewed and refused under INA Section 221(g) for additional document submission or processing.
  • Interviews for any case with a derivative applicant who is turning 21 years old and risks losing eligibility as a child.
  • Interviews for Immediate Relative family members of U.S. citizens, including intercountry adoptions: IR-1, CR-1, IR-2, CR-2, IR-3, IH-3, IR-4, IH-4, and IR-5.
  • Expedite-approved mission critical cases, such as fiancé(e)s of U.S. citizens and their children (K-1, K-2) if there is a terminal eligibility deadline (age out or one year issuance deadline for K-1 of an issued K-1 approaching) or active U.S. military petitioners as well as employment-based (EB-3) immigrants with healthcare positions on a case-to-case basis.
  • Visa interviews for all other immigrant visa categories remain suspended until local conditions and capacity allows.

Nonimmigrant Visa:  

The Embassy continues to prioritize travelers with urgent travel needs, foreign diplomats, and certain mission-critical categories of travelers such as those coming to assist with the U.S. response to the pandemic, followed by students and exchange visitors (F-1, M-1, and J-1) and temporary employment visas). 

Visa appointments and processing for B1/B2 (Business/Tourist) remain suspended. 

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10 Essential Info About Trump’s Ban on Legal Immigration

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On June 22, 2020, President Trump issued a second proclamation “Suspending Entry of Immigrants Who Present Risk to the U.S. Labor Market During the Economic Recovery Following the COVID-19 Outbreak.” This proclamation became effective on June 24, 2020 and will expire December 31, 2020.

1. What is the effect of the June 2020 Proclamation on legal immigrants?

The June 22, 2020 Proclamation (June Proclamation) extends the April 2020 Proclamation which suspended the entry of certain immigrants into the United States until December 31, 2020. It expanded also the ban on certain visa applicants mostly employment based nonimmigrant visas

The Proclamation suspends the issuance of visas for those seeking entry pursuant to a(n):

  • H-1B visa and any foreign national accompanying or following to join them;
  • H-2B visa and any foreign national accompanying or following to join them;
  • J visa, to the extent the foreign national is participating in an intern, trainee, teacher, camp counselor, au pair, or summer work travel program, and any foreign national accompanying or following to join them; and
  • L visa, and any foreign national accompanying or following to join them

Significant number of Filipino visa applicants and businesses under the above mentioned categories(H1B, J and L) will be adversely impacted by this suspension. For the H2B visa category, Philippine nationals have already been barred from receiving this visa in the last 2 fiscal years.

Those severely affected are those outside the United States.

2. Who are NOT affected from the suspension of immigration?

Among others, these are the categories of individuals who are not affected by the Proclamation:

  1. Those adjusting status in the United States.
  2. Green card holders or immigrant visa holders at the time of the proclamation. If an individual is already in possession of an immigrant visa or green card before the Proclamation, they can still travel back to the United States.
  3. Those with temporary travel documents can still enter the U.S. Examples are individuals in possession of transportation letters issued by the U.S. Embassy, re-entry permits and advance parole issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

3. Can you explain what the “National Interest Exemption” is about?

The Proclamation on suspension of visas will not apply and consular officers will still grant issuance of visas if the visa applicant can prove that his/her case falls under the national interest exemption.

For purposes of determining who is covered under the “national interest” exemption, the Proclamation directs the Secretaries of State, Labor, and Homeland Security to determine standards for those to whom such an exemption would be available, including any individuals who:

  • are critical to the defense, law enforcement, diplomacy, or national security of the United States;
  • are involved with the provision of medical care to individuals who have contracted COVID-19 and
  • are currently hospitalized;
  • are involved with the provision of medical research at U.S. facilities to help the United States combat COVID-19;
  • are necessary to facilitate the immediate and continued economic recovery of the United States; or
    are children who would age out of eligibility for a visa because of this proclamation or Proclamation 10014.

4. What about other non-immigrant visas such as fiance, student and visitors visa holders are they still allowed to travel to the United States?

The June proclamation explicitly mentions the type of temporary visas that are suspended. These include mostly employment based visas: H1b, H2b (working visas); L1 (intra-company executives transferees); and J1 visas (seasonal workers in the hospitality industry, students on work-study summer programs and au pairs who arrive under other auspices).

June 2020 Proclamation does not ban other visas such as the visitors visas, fiance visas, student visas and the investors visas among others. So as soon as the U.S. Embassy opens to provide their regular consular services, applicants for the other types of visas that are not included in the proclamation may still pursue their application. Also, those who are in possession of non-immigrant visas not enumerated in the proclamation may still use their validly issued visas to travel.

5. A beneficiary of an approved visa petition was issued a printed immigrant visa on his passport after an interview with the consular officer at the U.S. Embassy. He was not able to enter travel to the U.S. yet and now wants to plan on going to the U.S. He is afraid that the Trump Proclamations will apply to him and would result in his inability to travel to the U.S. Will this individual be prevented from entering the United States because of the Proclamation?

No. The Proclamation does not affect those who are in possession of immigrant visas. Although he has not received his actual green card, he is considered to have gone through a completed process for him to be considered as an immigrant visa holder, hence, he can travel to the United States.

6. If the individual who was issued an non-immigrant employment based visa (H1B, L or J) or immigrant visa by the U.S. Embassy is not ready to travel to the United States during this COVID-19 pandemic, will he risk losing his immigrant visa by revocation?

No. Valid non-immigrant visas issued before the June proclamation and that were not used for travel will not be revoked under this Proclamation.

7. An adjustment of status applicant left the United States for a temporary visit abroad, will this adjustment applicant be able to return with his advance parole document?

Yes. An advance parole is considered as a travel document not covered by the Proclamation, hence this individual may travel back to the U.S. using his advance parole document.

8. A lawful permanent resident plans to file a visa petition for his minor children, will he be permitted to file a visa petition with the USCIS?

Yes, lawful permanent residents may still file for visa petitions on behalf of their minor children. What the Proclamation prohibits is the issuance of visas for these individuals. The proclamation exempts only minor children and spouses of U.S. citizens.

9. A visa petition was approved for a parent of a U.S. citizen. The parent was already interviewed before the Proclamation effectivity date of April 23, 2020 but no visa has been issued yet. Can this parent follow up on the issuance of his visa and travel to the United States?

No. Clearly, under the April Proclamation, which effectivity was extended until December 31, 2020, parents of U.S. citizens who have not been issued visas or are not in possession of visas may not be allowed to immigrate temporarily. They are covered by the Proclamations and are not exempt from the ban.

10. A child beneficiary of a preference immigrant visa petition is turning 21 years old and will age out during the period of suspension, what steps can s/he take before losing the opportunity to immigrate as a minor derivative child?

One of the categories of visa applicants that is part of the national interest exemptions refers to children who are aging out or turning 21 years old. This category will be exempt from the ban. So it is important to take steps and seek to qualify the aging out child as an exempt visa applicant quoting the provision under the national interest exemptions.

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What Trump’s Latest Proclamation Suspending Immigration Means to Our Families?

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President Trump issued a proclamation “Suspending Entry of Immigrants Who Present Risk to the U.S. Labor Market During the Economic Recovery Following the COVID-19 Outbreak.” This proclamation became effective on April 23, 2020 and will expire 60 days from its effective date and may be continued.

Coverage and Exemptions

Those severely affected are those outside the United States who are immigrant applicants. It does not affect those adjusting status in the United States. There are several exemptions to the Proclamation, among these categories are:

  1. Green card holders or immigrant visa holders at the time of the proclamation. If an individual is already in possession of an immigrant visa or green card before the Proclamation, they can still travel back to the United States.
  2. Those with temporary travel documents can still enter the U.S. Examples are individuals in possession of transportation letters issued by the U.S. Embassy, re-entry permits and advance parole issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
  3. Health care workers, professionals and other essential medical workers alleviating the effects of COVID-19 are exempt
  4. Temporary visa holders such as tourists, student visa holders and working visa holders. They can still enter the U.S. if their visas are still valid.
  5. Minor children (below 21 years old) and spouses of U.S. citizens may still continue to be processed for their immigrant visas and travel to the U.S.

Families of Immigrants Severely Affected

There are three categories of family members adversely impacted by this Proclamation.

First on the list are the parents of U.S. citizens and preference categories beneficiaries of petitions filed by green card holders and U.S. citizens.

The parents of U.S. citizens should have been considered as immediate relatives of U.S. citizens and should have been included in the exemption. The goal of the proclamation as stated is to protect U.S. workers, but how are parents of U.S. citizens a threat or in competition with U.S. workers?On the contrary ,should they not be immigrating right now to allow them to assist in caring for their grandchildren especially during this time of COVID-19 pandemic? U.S. citizens parents, with minor children who are still in school, are shuffling between engaging in essential work (such as the health care workers)or work from home and taking care of their children’s online schooling. The presence of a grandparent or any additional member of the family will be beneficial to a typical immigrant household.

Second category of those affected are families of U.S. citizens who are adults, married or unmarried, their siblings and families of lawful permanent residents who are spouses, minor or adult unmarried children. This group of visa applicants will have their visa processing outside the U.S.suspended as a result of this Proclamation. But take note that these are the relatives who have waited for many years, some for more than 2 decades, to be reunited with their families. Considering the lengthy delay before visas become available, the majority of the petitioners are now elderly citizens. It is these elderly U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents who actually need the company of their adult children during this COVID-19 epidemic. Depriving them family reunification at a critical time when they are needed most is certainly detrimental given the importance of family to the immigrants.

The third and last category of immigrants affected are the minor children who are aging out. The Child Status Protection Act (CSPA) may protect certain minor children from aging out but several categories of aging out children may not qualify under the CSPA. With the Proclamation suspending immigration of those in the preference categories, minor children who aged out will be rendered ineligible as minor children or derivative minor children. There will be no protection from them while the Proclamation is in effect resulting in prolonged separation from their lawful permanent resident parents.

Trump has always targeted these families of immigrants and U.S. citizens in his proposals to limit immigration. He has found a ‘convenient’ time to implement his intended policy in the guise of protecting U.S. workers. If it is indeed to protect U.S. workers, why are there more family based immigrants affected over employment based workers who are already in the United States? There is no valuable national interest in suspending family reunification. We are in critical times, the priorities should be focused on directly addressing the COVID-19 crisis and not in weakening our family support system.

(Atty. Lourdes S. Tancinco is an immigrant advocate and legal counsel based in San Francisco CA. She is the principal and co-founder of Tancinco Law Offices and may be reached at law@tancinco.com, tancinco.weareph.com/old, facebook/tancincolaw, or at 1-888-930-0808)