Trump has officially banned the #H1B, #H2B, #L1 and #J1 visa for non-immigrant work in the US until Dec. 31, 2020. There are many stipulations around Trump's proclamation which has raised many questions. Jon Velie, CEO of OnlineVisas, answers some of your top questions about the Trump immigration ban on H-1B, L-1 and J-1 visa holders.
1:35 - Does the H-1B, H-2B, L-1 and J-1 ban apply to extensions, amendments and change of status after the Trump Immigration Ban?
2:44 - Can I enter if I am out of the country, but my H-1B, H-2B, L-1 visa or J-1 visa has been stamped into my passport after the Trump Immigration Ban?
3:02 - My H-1B, H-2B, L-1 or J-1 visa is approved but only stamping left, can I still enter the US after the Trump Immigration Ban?
3:45 - Can I change from H-4 to H-1B after the Trump Immigration Ban?
4:20 - Can I change from a visitor visa to an H-1B, H-2B, L-1 or J-1 visa after the Trump Immigration Ban?
4:48 - What are some of the visas I can still enter the US after the Trump Immigration Ban?
8:33 - If I am on an ESTA Visa Waiver, can I change to or come in on an H-1B, H-2B, L-1 or J-1 visa after the Trump Immigration Ban?
9:02 - Does the Trump Immigration Ban impact the H-1B lottery for those selected for 2020?
9:45 - My husband is on an H-1B, can I enter on an H-4 after the Trump Immigration Ban?
9:53 - Does the ban remove Employment Authorization from H-4 visa holders after the Trump Immigration Ban?
10:10 - Does the ban preclude entry on an F-1 OPT after the Trump Immigration Ban?
10:20 - Can I still work on an OPT after the Trump Immigration Ban?
10:29 - Is the after the Trump Immigration Ban also for marriage visas?
10:54 - How long is the after the Trump Immigration Ban?
11:10 - Can you adjust status from a visa to a Green card after the Trump Immigration Ban?
12:08 - What J-1 visa types cannot enter the US after the Trump Immigration Ban?
12:29 - What J-1 visa types can still enter the US after the Trump Immigration Ban?
12:57 - What may be in the requested regulations the Trump Immigration Ban requested of US Agencies?
Hi, this is Jon Velie. And welcome to another episode of Voice of Immigration. I am the CEO of OnlineVisas and we are going to break down the Trump Ban on Immigration that came down on June 22nd with a series of questions and answers. So stay tuned. This will not cover everything, but it goes into pretty deep detail. And if you have any other questions, please leave them in our comments below or contact onlinevisas.com to set up a strategy session. If you're watching this on YouTube, please subscribe and turn on your notifications and we'll continue to keep you up to date with breaking news. There are a number of things in this proclamation that discuss possible regulations coming down from a number of agencies, so things are not done yet. We'll keep you up to speed on that. And we'll also do a number of videos on how to obtain the H-1B, H-2B, L-1, and J-1 visas even after the ban.
So stay tuned. Here we go with our questions and answers regarding the Trump proclamation banning or suspending numerous non-immigrant visas on June 22nd.
So question
1. Does the H-1B, H-2B, L-1, and J-1 ban apply to extensions, amendments, and change of status after the proclamation? Well, the answer is no, these processes are still permitted. That means if somebody is in the United States and they want to change, amend, transfer the visa they have right now, the non-immigrant temporary work visa they have, or student visa to another type of visa, they can still do that. Why is that? Well, the President of the United States can only do things within his power, and under the Constitution, he's limited to the provisions of the Immigration and Naturalization Act, the INA. And in the INA, he has a couple of clauses in which he can deal with immigration outside of the United States.
This is inside the United States and it is questionable whether or not he can deal with nonimmigrant visas inside the United States. So we may see some lawsuits on that, but right now, this proclamation deals with the entry of people into the United States. So those that are in here right now can still continue to change their status, extend their status, amend their status. All right, so that's some good news.
2. Can I enter if I am out of the country, but my H-1B, H-2B, L-1, and J visa has been stamped into my passport after the Trump immigration ban? The answer is yes. If the visa has already been stamped in your passport, meaning you've gone to the consulate, you've processed it and it's in there, then you can still enter the United States.
3. Conversely, next question, if I'm outside the United States and either my H-1B, H-2B, L-1, and J1 visa is approved, but I have not yet gone into the consulate for stamping can I still enter the United States after the Trump immigration ban? Well, the answer is no, that's exactly the people that are precluded.
And this is very frustrating because many people could not get into the consulates because of the shutdown of the COVID-19 pandemic. And there are some of those consulates, most of those consulates, that are still closed. So that's tough luck for those folks right now.
4. Can I change from an H4 to an H-1B visa after the Trump immigration ban? Well, yes, you can do that just as we said, any type of visa, so an H4 is for a spouse of an H-1B visa. Can they then go out and get a job and transfer the H-1B? Yes, they can. However, the H-1B lottery has come and gone and there are no H-1B visas available except for at universities right now. So that's a problem in itself.
5. Can I change from a visitor visa to an H-1B, H-2B, L-1, and J-1 visa after the Trump immigration ban? Well, yes you can. And that then begs the question: Can I enter the United States on a visitor visa? And the answer is yes, you can. And if you enter on a visitor visa, then you could change your status to another visa. Now, you may have some problems entering the United States if they think that that's what you're going to do, but that is permissible under the law.
6. So here's a big question: What are the visas I can still enter into the United States after the Trump Immigration Ban for nonimmigrant visas? Okay, so there's a laundry list of them and I'm going to go through those. So, business visitors, that's under the B1, they can still enter domestic employees or nannies but must be accompanied by a foreign national employer under that B1, they can do it.
Athletes, amateurs and professionals, competing for prize money, only be B1 visa can still do it. Tourism, vacation, and pleasure visitors under the B2 can still enter. Medical treatment visitors under the B2 can still enter. Athletes, artists, and entertainers under the P visa. So there's a P1, there's a P-1B, there's a P3, those athletes artists, entertainers can still come in. Australian professional workers, the E3, that's just like the H-1B for all practical purposes, but that was not singled out and excluded under this. So E3s can still enter the United States. If you have a border crossing card from Mexico, the BCC, you can still enter the United States. Crew members serving aboard a sea vessel or aircraft with the U.S., under the D visa, can still come in. Diplomats and foreign government officials under the A visa. Employees of a designated international organization in NATO, that's the G1 through G5 NATO visas can still come in. Certain exchange visitors under the J1 or the exchange visitors under the J1 can, professors and scholars under the J1 can, exchange visitors under the Q can and under the J can.
So some of the Js, and we'll go into that, can and some can't. So those are some that can. Fiances under the K1 can still enter. Foreign military personnel stationed in the US under the A2 or NATO, one through six can still enter. Foreign nationals with extraordinary ability in science, arts, education, business, and athletics under the O1 can still enter. Information media representatives, media and journalists under the I visa can enter. NAFTA professional workers from Mexico and Canada, that's the TN and the TD can still enter. Nurses traveling to areas short of healthcare professionals, that's the H-1C, they can still come in. The H-1B cannot, the H-2B cannot. The H-2C can and the H-2A can. Physicians under the A1 can and the H-1B physicians can if it's COVID related. So those are physicians coming to work in hospitals and researchers, I guess physicians if they're doing research for COVID can.
Religious workers under the R can enter. Students, academic and language students under the F1 that includes the OPT F1 can still enter. Student dependence under the F2 can. Students under the vocational designation of the M1 can still enter in their dependents under the M2. Temporary seasonal workers for agriculture under the H-2A can still enter, H-2B can't. Training in a program, not primarily for employment, under the H3, they can still enter that was not excluded. Treaty investors under the E2 can still come in and the treaty investor dependent workers or essential employees can still come in under the E2. Treaty traders under the E1 can still come in. Transiting in the United States using the C visa can still come in. Victims of human trafficking under the T1 can still come in and victims of criminal activity under the U1 can still come in.
So those are all people, those are all still visas that are available to enter into the United States, even after the Trump Immigration Ban of June 22nd, over the non-immigrant visas, which included the H-1B, H-2B, J visa, and L visa.
7. All right, next question: If I'm on an ESTA visa waiver, can I change or come into coming in on an H-1B, H-2B, L1, and J1 visa after the Trump Immigration Ban? No, you can't. The ESTA cannot be extended except for COVID-19 situations and for a very, very limited period of time, but you cannot go from the ESTA to one of those visas anyway, and you can't leave on the ESTA and come back in under one of those visas.
8. Does the Trump Immigration Ban impact the H-1B lottery for those selected for 2020? Well, it does. For those that are outside the country right now and would want to, after they got their visa approved, come into the United States on an H-1B, they cannot do it unless they're in one of the exempted areas. There are a few areas that they can be exempted, doctors dealing with hospitals for COVID, registered nurses for COVID in hospitals, some national interest issues, there are a couple of catch-alls in there.
So contact us at onlinevisas.com strategy session if you want to talk about whether or not you think you're an exemption for one of those types of visas from the lottery.
9. Another question: My husband's on an H-1B, can I enter on an H4 after the Trump Immigration Ban? No, you can't, not if you're outside the country.
10. Does the ban remove employment authorization from H-4 visa holders after the Trump Immigration Ban? No, it did not impact that. We thought we would see the EAD be taken away, from both OPT and H-4 that did not happen in this ban.
11. Which goes to the next question: Does the band preclude entry on an F1 OPT after the Trump immigration ban? No, and it doesn't take it away and it doesn't take away your ability to work on that OPT EAD card. Can I still work on an OPT after Trump Immigration Ban? Same question I just answered. Yes, you can.
12. Does the Trump Immigration Ban ban marriages to US citizens? No, it doesn't. The previous proclamation talked about green cards coming in the United States, and it specifically excluded marriage-based green cards. Now it did not exclude other family member based green cards. Those are precluded right now under that and that ban was extended under this one.
13. How long is the Trump Immigration Ban? Well, it's slated to expire on 12/31/2020. So the last day of the year 2020 is the last day of this ban.
14. Can I adjust status from a visa to a green card after the Trump Immigration Ban? Yes, you can. The previous ban, which was extended with this one, was for a number of green cards, it excluded a few, the EB2 national interest waiver, you can still come in on that. The EB5 immigrant visa you can still come in on that. The EB1 for extraordinary ability, multinational executives, outstanding researchers that ban from entering the United States is still in place. The EB2 and EB3 under the PERM, that's the Labor Certification Process, are still banned from coming in the United States. But if you're in the United States, you can change or you can adjust your status. You can still file for those visas.
If you get those visas, you can still adjust your status. With a number of them, you can file concurrently if you're from those countries that do not have long waiting lists under priority dates.
15.So here's a question: What J1 visa types cannot enter the US after the Trump Immigration Ban? So not all of them were, there are 15 types. So the ones that cannot enter the United States under the J visa, after the Trump immigration ban are: intern, trainee, teacher, camp counselor, au pair, and the summer work travel program participants. Okay. So what J1 visa types can still enter the United States after the Trump Immigration Ban? College and university students, government visitor, international visitor, physician, professor, research scholar, secondary school student, short term scholar, and specialist. All of those J1 programs are still available for entering the United States. And every J1 is still available if you're in the United States and you change to it.
16. All right, next question: What may be in the requested regulations the Trump Immigration Ban asked of the US agencies? So in this, President Trump asked the US agency to come in and turn on other regulations. Now, why did he do that? Well, there are certain things he can't do. We talked about the under the INA he can only do certain things. And while there is some question whether he could have done any of this, and there will likely be lawsuits, definitely could not have done some other things and probably, to keep it from being thrown out immediately, he asked the agencies to come up with some regulations. So these are some guesses, they're educated guesses and they're based on a lot of the situation we saw and heard about going into this ban, things that were in there.
So let me see what we got here. So we might see an increase in filing fees. That usually has to come from regulation. We saw some ridiculous filing fee suggestions prior to this. There was, at time $100,000 in increased filing fees for H-1BS and the others. Then we heard $20,000 coming into this in increased fees for each visa coming into this proclamation, and none of them were put in there, but the regulation is that. So you might see some increased fees for these visas or visas across the board, we don't know. We do know that immigration is grossly underfunded right now, probably purposefully and this is a way to create a deterrent of filing visas and increase those fees to keep this agency up and going. We may see an increase in prevailing wages for visas. This would be a Department of Labor indicator, and you may see that. We thought we would see a shortening of visas for H-1Bs for those at level one, they left that all out. But we may see an increase in prevailing wages that will increase what the minimum wage or prevailing wage is for an H-1B worker.
They may add the prevailing wages into the L we don't know that. Recruitment of US workers as a mandate before hiring an H-1B visa holder, don't know if that would go to the L it doesn't make as much sense, but you might. What does that mean? So in the Labor Certification Processes of the EB2 and EB3 green card, there's a very extensive recruitment process where you got to go see if there are any Americans willing or able to do that job. There is something, a protracted version of that in the H-2B already. So it may put a requirement under the H-1B to do that. That would make some sense since this whole purpose behind this visa is to protect American jobs.
And that is the language that the President used when asking these agencies to come up with new regulations. We may see fingerprints and pictures as a requirement for obtaining the visa. There was some discussion on that in this proclamation, and you may see a more restrictive standard for criminal backgrounds. We saw something in there about a criminal, a crime, if you committed a crime. There has been a standard for crimes that are a barrier to entry into the United States right now, have been for years, those are felonies, those are misdemeanors with more than one year of penalty, including probation, there are multiple misdemeanors, and like three, and then there are crimes of moral turpitude, which can be misdemeanors, but if they're fraudulent based then those can't do it. So look, that's a number of questions and answers that I have for today. You may have more, so contact us at onlinevisas.com and ask for a strategy session or just in a transcript there, ask your questions, we'll try to answer them. Leave comments below in these videos and we'll try to get that as well. I hope this helped I'm Jon Velie, CEO of OnlineVisas, and we're delivering dreams one visa at a time.