May 5, 2020

Trump’s Immigration Ban May Result in More Employment-Based Immigrant Visas Being Issued

United States President Donald Trump’s Executive Order (“EO”) banning certain immigrants from immigrating may end up increasing the number of visas available for employment-based immigrant visa categories.

Employment-based immigrant visas are capped at 140,000 worldwide per fiscal year while family-based immigrant visas are limited to roughly 250,000 per year. The current immigration ban places a heavier emphasis on restricting family-based immigrants compared to employment-based immigrants. While a pause of only 60 days may do little to alter the make-up of immigration to the U.S., in the long-term, extensions which were allocated within the EO could end up redefining the overall composition of immigrants who receive immigrant visas and green cards if this policy remains in place for some time.

According to an analysis conducted by Migration Policy Institute, approximately 52,000 immigrant visas are expected to be affected because of the 60-day immigration ban. Government statistics show nearly half a million immigrants moved to the U.S. in 2019 who had received their immigrant visas from U.S. embassies and consulates abroad, while more than half a million immigrants obtained permanent residence by adjusting their status within the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”), there were four times as many immigrants who received permanent residence through adjustment of status as opposed to those who received their permanent residence by applying for an immigrant visa at a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad.

The waiting period for immigrants seeking immigrant visas is based on the date when their petition was filed with the Department of Homeland Security. The U.S. Department of State (“DOS”) releases these “priority dates” in its monthly visa bulletin. To use the total allocated family-based immigrant visas, DOS would need to find more immigrant visa applicants who are adjusting status from within the country to take away from intending immigrants abroad who are ineligible due to the immigration ban. The DOS could do this by advancing those priority dates forward in time to allow those adjustment applicants to become eligible for permanent residence more quickly.

For more information on obtaining an employment-based immigrant visa for applicants located in Asia, contact us today at info@enterlinepartners.com and speak with one of our U.S. immigration lawyers in Ho Chi Minh City, Manila and Taipei.

ENTERLINE & PARTNERS CONSULTING

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Office
3F, IBC building
1A Cong Truong Me Linh Str.
District 1, HCMC, Vietnam
Tel: +84 933 301 488
Email: info@enterlinepartners.com
Facebook: Enterline & Partners – Dịch vụ Thị thực và Định cư Hoa Kỳ
Website: http://enterlinepartners.com

Manila, Philippines Office
Unit 2507 Cityland 10 Tower 1
156 H.V. Dela Costa Street
Makati City, Philippines 1209
Tel: +632 5310 1491
Email: info@enterlinepartners.com
Facebook: Enterline and Partners Philippines
Website: https://enterlinepartners.com/language/en/welcome/

Categories: DHS, DOS, EO, Executive Order, Immigrant Visa, Lawful Permanent Resident, LPR, Trump, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Embassy & Consulate, U.S. Visa, Visa

CDC Removes COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement for Immigrant Visa Applicants

USCIS Proposes to Collect Social Media Handles on Immigration Forms

What Is Adjustment Of Status For U.S. Immigration Purposes?

Delinquent U.S. Taxpayers in Southeast Asia

our services

Over 18,000 successful customers with Enterline &
Partners, realizing the dream of immigration

Latest News

Trump Administration Issues Executive Order Requiring Alien Registration Requirement

As posted on the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) website, on January 20, 2025, President Trump issued Executive Order (“EO”) 14159, “Protecting the American People Against Invasion”. The EO directs the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) to ensure that aliens comply with their duty to register with the government. Failure to comply with the registration requirement is treated as a civil and criminal enforcement priority. The DHS requires that, with limited exceptions, all aliens 14 years of age or older who were not registered and fingerprinted (if required) when applying for a U.S. visa, and who remain in the United States for 30 days or longer, must apply for registration and fingerprinting. Similarly, parents and legal guardians of aliens below the age of 14 must ensure that those child aliens are registered. Within 30 days of reaching his or her 14th birthday, all previously registered aliens must apply for re-registration

CDC Removes COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement for Immigrant Visa Applicants

Effective March 11, 2025, The United States Center for Disease Control (“CDC”) has removed from the technical instructions to panel physicians the requirement that immigrant visa applicants receive the COVID-19 vaccination. Panel physicians will no longer determine that an immigrant visa applicant is ineligible for travel based on their failure to receive, or otherwise document, their vaccination against COVID-19. Based on CDC’s updated guidance to panel physicians, which is inline with the recent United States Citizenship and Immigration Services policy, Embassies and Consulates will no longer refuse an immigrant visa application for failure to present documentation that they received the COVID-19 vaccination. Applicants whose medical exams are unexpired and otherwise still valid for travel to the United States, and whom a consular officer previously found ineligible based solely on the applicant’s failure to establish vaccination against COVID-19, may have a new medical exam issued by the panel physician without a

USCIS Proposes to Collect Social Media Handles on Immigration Forms

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) issued a 60-day notice and comment on a proposal to collect information pertaining to social-media handles and associated social media platform names from applicants in an effort to verify identification, streamline public safety screening and related inspections. The proposal, which was published in the Federal Register on March 5, 2025, is in line with President Donald Trump’s January 20, 2025 Executive Order, “Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threat” which directs the implementation of uniform vetting procedures. The USCIS will accept comments to the proposed rule until May 5, 2025. If the proposed rule officially becomes part of USCIS vetting standards, it will follow the U.S. Department of State 2019 rule which requires U.S. visa applicants to disclose their social media handles and other social media related information on their DS-160 Nonimmigrant Online Visa

Trump’s Immigration Ban May Result in More Employment-Based Immigrant Visas Being Issued

CATEGORY

Over 18,000 successful customers with Enterline &Partners, realizing the dream of immigration

Latest News

Over 18,000 successful customers with Enterline &
Partners, realizing the dream of immigration