US Immigration News

L1 visa and H1B visa holders and other non-immigrant visa holders will need to attend an in person interview in order to gain employment based permanent residence, also known as a US Green Card, as part of Donald Trump's 'extreme vetting' of immigrants.

In May, workpermit.com reported that the US Department of State (DoS) had projected that the US E2 visa would be made available to Israeli nationals by October 2017. However, it would seem that the DoS’ projections have been premature as implementing the scheme continues to drag on.

A points based US Green Card system will be introduced favouring English speaking skilled workers, while deterring low-skilled nationals, the White House has announced. The new, proposed system will be similar to those in operation in Australia and Canada.

Concerns that the recently announced RAISE Act will affect L1 visa applications have been quashed by experts. On August 2, President Donald Trump – along with Senators David Perdue and Tom Cotton - announced the Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy Act (RAISE) as the first ‘meaningful’ US immigration legislation under Trump.

The US State Department is being sued for failing to process US visa applications for thousands of nationals from six Muslim-majority nations, who won the green card lottery, prior to President Donald Trump’s temporary travel ban being reinstated.

Last month the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) spoke out against the Trump administration denying permanent Immigrant Visas, known as Green Cards, to US Green Card Lottery winners from Iran and Yemen.