The long-awaited Executive Order temporarily suspending the immigration of certain aliens into the United States has been released. WHO IS IMPACTED BY THE EXECUTIVE ORDER? The order entitled, “Proclamation Suspending the Entry of Immigrants Who Present Risk to the U.S. Labor Market During the Economic Recovery Following the COVID-19 Outbreak,”…
Articles Posted in DOS
Trump Administration to Announce New Restrictions Blocking Pregnant Women from Obtaining B Visas
The Trump administration is ready to announce new restrictions that will make it more difficult for foreign nationals to give birth in the United States, striking a blow to the “birth tourism” industry. In a 2015 speech in Orlando, Florida the President told supporters, “the birthright citizenship, the anchor baby…
Immigrant Visa Applicants Must Show Evidence of Adequate Health Care Coverage or Financial Resources Beginning November 3rd
The President has once again targeted the immigrant population by signing a Presidential Proclamation suspending the entry of any immigrant who will “financially burden the United States healthcare system.” While the Presidential Proclamation is likely to encounter resistance in court, as it stands the Proclamation is slated to become effective…
Consular Officers Given Wide Discretionary Power to Deny Visas on Public Charge Grounds
In its latest act of defiance against the judicial branch, the Trump administration has published an Interim Final Rule entitled “Visas: Ineligibility Based on Public Charge Grounds,” designed to give Consular officers wider discretion to deny immigrant and nonimmigrant visas to applicants on public charge grounds based on a variety…
FY 2021 Diversity Immigrant Visa Registration Opens October 2, 2019
Instructions for the 2021 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program registration season is now among us. The U.S. Department of State has released instructions on how to apply for the FY 2021 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program in which 55,000 Diversity Visas (DVs) will be up for grabs.…
Final Rule Makes it Possible to Deny Permanent Residence Based on Receipt of Certain Public Benefits
USCIS will be publishing a final rule on August 14, 2019, in the Federal Register, that expands the list of public benefits that make a foreign national ineligible to obtain permanent residence and/or an immigrant or nonimmigrant visa. The Immigration and Nationality Act makes inadmissible and therefore (1) ineligible for…
August Visa Bulletin Trends and Visa Projections
In this post, we would like to keep our readers informed about Visa Bulletin projections for the coming months. Charles Oppenheim, Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division of the U.S. Department of State provides a monthly analysis of each month’s Visa Bulletin including discussion of current trends and…
Visa Applicants Now Required to Disclose Social Media Presence on DS-160/260 Applications
Foreign nationals applying for a non-immigrant or immigrant visa at a U.S. Consulate or Embassy abroad are now required to disclose information relating to their social media presence on their online nonimmigrant and immigrant visa applications known as the DS-160 and DS-260 respectively. These changes were introduced early last week…
January Visa Bulletin Trends and Projections: EB-1, EB-2, EB-3
In this post, we would like to keep our readers informed about Visa Bulletin projections for the coming months. Charles Oppenheim, Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division of the U.S. Department of State provides a monthly analysis of each month’s Visa Bulletin including discussion of current trends and…
How Will the Government Shutdown Impact Immigration?
Photo credit: Scott Kirkwood/NPCA Today marks the fifth day of a partial government shutdown that began on Saturday. The government was forced into a shutdown after Democrats refused to concede $5 billion dollars to fund the President’s wall along the southwest border. Since then, Democratic leaders in the House and…