Will Joe Biden fix the broke Immigration System?

President-elect Joe Biden will take office on January 20th. One of the biggest agenda of his committee is to fix the broken immigration system. But would they really fix the broken system?

As we all know that from the past few years, President Trump led government has made it even more difficult for people living on Visas in this country. Executive orders, one after the other are making sure that less and less "Legal immigrants" stay in this country. We have seen in the past that no matter any government, the importance have been given to illegal immigration and legal immigration remains broke. While people who illegally came to this country are enjoying all the benefits, and a legal immigrant working on OPT is unable to renew his/her drivers license (Those who have gone through this pain will really understand this) 

I believe Republicans or Democrats, nobody cares about legal immigration. Legal immigration is an after thought for these parties. While Indian and Chinese nationals are stuck in the limbo for years to get their green card, somebody from Nepal or Bangladesh gets their green card in a year. 

In a recent study, it was shown that more that Indian employer- sponsored applicants face an 8 decade wait for green cards, and nearly 200,000 will die before they could even theoretically reach the front line.

Even in Obama era, we did not see much change in terms of legal immigration. In his 8 year term, a lot of things could have been fixed but nothing was really done about it. While Democrats and Republicans keep talking about legal immigration, nobody is interested in fixing it. 

In the recent months we have seen some executive orders which have made life of an legal immigrant in USA more and more difficult. As a legal immigrant, who has been paying taxes for years, you get 60 days if you are laid off from your employer, to find another job and that company should be willing to sponsor your H1b. 

Countries like Canada and Australia are really benefiting from the broke immigration system that America has in place. Canada recently announced that it has increased the target from 900,000 to 1.2 million new immigrants in the next 3 years. 

I am going to repeat what I said above. Republicans or Democrats, nobody cares about Legal immigration. Unfortunately the legal immigration system is broke and will remain broke for the foreseeable future.

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Non Immigrant Visa Ban Executive Order

The much rumored proclamation is out.

There are a lot of details in this executive order and things are still not clear as such.

Here are the things we know so far: 

Non Immigrant Visa Ban Executive Order 

1) F-1 students are not impacted by this proclamation . OPT ( (Optional Practical training) is not impacted. STEM OPT is not impacted.

2) B-1 and B-2 visitors are not impacted.

3) O-1, TN, E-3 are not impacted

4) H-1B workers and H-4 dependents who are currently outside the United States and do not have visas stamped in their passports will not be able to travel to the US.

5) L-1A and L-1B workers and L-2 dependents who are currently outside the United States and do not have visas stamped in their passports will not be able to travel to the US.

6) Any applications which are currently filed with USCIS will not be impacted. Any new I-129 and I-539 ( extensions) applications can still be filed with USCIS.

7) There will be limits on staffing company placements

8) There will be new prevailing wage rules which will use tier system to benefit the highest skilled workers.

9) Biometrics must be conducted for people who are outside the country and are not barred and allowed to travel.

10) White House claiming this will free up 525K workers

11) The proclamation will expire on December 31,2020 and may be continued as necessary

12) H-4 Dependents can only enter US if the H1b holder is in the States already.

We will keep adding details to this thread as we know more.

Source : Executive order Non Immigrant Visa ban

Please refer to our last post which talks more about this executive order : Non Immigrant Visa ban

Please use your discretion and plan accordingly if you wish to travel.  I will continue to update this post as we find out more on this executive order. 

I hope the above information helps. If you have something to add to it , do leave a comment below. Don't forget to like our facebook page for latest updates. Also follow us on Twitter.

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Non Immigrant Visa Ban

Update 06/22/2020: Breaking the proclamation ( Executive order is out) 

Here is the link : Non Immigrant Visa Ban

I will explain in more details what all this proclamation covers.

Update 06/22/2020 : 

Immigration EO to be signed this afternoon per multiple sources

- Freezes most new work visas including H-1b

  H-2b, certain J, and L 

- Fees on current visa holders increase

- New reg changes on H-1b workers, closing big loopholes

- New reg changes on asylum seekers  

Source : https://twitter.com/RyanGirdusky/status/

1275129280784105473

Update 06/21/2020 : President confirmed that he'll sign a new ban order today or tomorrow.We will keep updating this space as we know more.

Update 06/20/2020 : NPR (National Public Radio) is reporting that President Trump may sign the order after the rally today. Source : https://rb.gy/e47tie

In the last few days there has been some very strong rumors regarding the non immigrant visa ban executive order.

As per the rumors, the executive order was to be released and signed by the President last week. We are still yet to the see the order and feel like that it will probably take couple of more weeks and we might see something by end of this month. 

This rumored executive order has created panic amongst thousand's of H1b visa holders who are stuck outside the United States. 

Due to the Covid 19 pandemic a lot of countries had  international travel ban which is still in place for the most part. People are eager to fly back to USA as soon as the flights will resume considering they have been away from home/families/ work for months. 

We are no experts, but most likely this executive order will have an impact on individuals who are outside the US and who currently hold H-1B or L1 Visa's. It is rumored that this executive order may temporary suspend the entry of the non immigrants in these categories. Of course it is unclear at this time that will it include L1 visa holders or even if it would apply to other categories. For example how about B1/B2 visa. 

Personally I think visitor visa won't be suspended. If you are currently outside the US and hold a H-1B/H-4 or L-1/L-2 visa please consider to return to the US as soon as possible. For those who are currently in US should avoid travel outside the US. 

This executive order may also target removing the STEM OPT program. 

As the pandemic is getting worse, and countries like India which have vast majority of H-1B/ L-1 Visa holders, this executive order might use Covid -19 as a reason to impose a travel ban on the non immigrants. 

Please use your discretion and plan accordingly if you wish to travel.  I will continue to update this post as we find out more on this executive order. 

I hope the above information helps. If you have something to add to it , do leave a comment below. Don't forget to like our facebook page for latest updates. Also follow us on Twitter.

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Can H1B employees be furloughed or terminated citing COVID-19?

As we know the world has changed in the last few months. Wearing face masks in public, working from home and maintaining social distancing is the new normal. COVID -19 has affected many industries and the recent data shows almost 33 million workers have filed for unemployment.

What is a furlough?

A furlough is placing an employee on leave of absence without pay. Usually it is temporary and rather than laying off an employee, companies use furlough to retain employees who they do not wish to terminate but also they can't afford to pay them for certain duration of time.

In this post I would like specifically address if an H1B employee can be furloughed citing COVID-19 or other reasons?

The short answer is NO. An employer must continue to pay the required wages to H1-B employees. When an H1b employee is hired, an LCA ( Labor certification application ) is filed.  That LCA is certified by the department of Labor and has prevailing wage as well as other information pertaining to that employee. Therefore, in the event of a company furloughs an H1-B employee, they should still continue to pay him/her the salary.

Can the employer instead opt to reduce the H1-B employee working hours?

The employer can reduce the working hours of an H1-B worker. To do so the employer needs to file an amended LCA and H1B petition with USCIS.

In certain cases where the employer is out of funds, the employer may ask the furloughed employee to use acquired paid time off, or sick leave. Before any employer does this, they should review each case with an immigration specialist to ensure that they are in compliance with the H1-B regulations.


Can the employers lay off  H1-B employee's citing COVID-19 reasons?

Unfortunately yes. Usually the employment here in USA is "at will" employment i.e. the employer can fire you at any time and you can also leave your job at any given time.

There is a 60 day grace period after you are fired from your job that you can stay in the US. During this grace period , the employee may search for a new employer. If the employee is hired, a new petition is filed with USCIS.

The information provided on the above post  is not intended to, constitute legal or immigration advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available on this site are for general informational purposes only. 

Temporary Suspension of Premium Processing

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services  announced the immediate and temporary suspension of premium processing service for all Form I-129 and I-140 petitions until further notice due to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Effective today, March 20, 2020, USCIS will not accept any new requests for premium processing. USCIS will process any petition with a previously accepted Form I-907, Request for Premium Processing Service, in accordance with the premium processing service criteria. However, we will not be able to send notices using pre-paid envelopes. We will only send batch-printed notices. Petitioners who have already filed a Form I-129, Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker, or Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Workers, using the premium processing service and who receive no agency action on their case within the 15-calendar-day period will receive a refund, consistent with 8 CFR 103.7(e). We will notify the public with a confirmed date for resuming premium processing. 

USCIS will reject the I-907 and return the $1,440 filing fee for all petitions requesting premium processing that were mailed before March 20 but not yet accepted.

This temporary suspension includes petitions filed for the following categories:

I-129: E-1, E-2, H-1B, H-2B, H-3, L-1A, L-1B, LZ, O-1, O-2, P-1, P-1S, P-2, P-2S, P-3, P-3S, Q-1, R-1, TN-1 and TN-2.

I-140: EB-1, EB-2 and EB-3.

This includes new premium processing requests for all H-1B petitions, including H-1B cap-subject petitions for fiscal year 2021, petitions from previous fiscal years, and all H-1B petitions that are exempt from the cap. USCIS previously announced the temporary suspension of premium processing for FY 2021 cap-subject petitions and tentative dates for resumption of premium processing service. This announcement expands upon and supersedes the previous announcement. 

For current Form I-129 and I-140 processing times, visit the Check Case Processing Times page and the H-1B page on the USCIS website.

Source : https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/temporary-workers/uscis-announces-temporary-suspension-premium-processing-all-i-129-and-i-140-petitions-due-coronavirus-pandemic