Maria Moreno of Law Offices of Rodrigo S. Da Silva, P.A.

A Response to Trump’s Executive Order on U.S. Immigration

The Executive Order promulgated on June 22, 2020, limited immigration into the U.S. to protect U.S. citizens suffering from the increased unemployment rates as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The order imposes limitations until December 31, 2020 with the possibility of being extended if necessary, affecting mainly individuals outside the U.S. who were in the process of applying for 1) Permanent Residency (and did not have an immigrant visa or official travel document issued April 23, 2020  or earlier; and 2)H,  J and L non-immigrant visas (individuals with a valid visa stamp dated June 24, 2020, or earlier are still permitted to enter the U.S.).  The order does not impact individuals already in the U.S. that are going through the green card or any other immigration process.

The Executive Order is the result of the highly protective policy the U.S. is implementing to ensure jobs in the U.S. market are available for U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents by significantly reducing the immigration of individuals who could come into the U.S. territory to compete for the reduced number of jobs currently available.

Why Explore the E-2 Visa after Trump’s Executive Order on U.S. Immigration

Despite the challenges this Order brings for many immigrants, it is also a strong indicator that U.S. immigration policies will tend to be more welcoming to immigrants who will invest in the U.S. and create new jobs for U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents. This is especially a great moment to seek E visas or status, which allow the nonimmigrant investor and her family to temporarily live and work* in the U.S.  EB-5 investor immigration petitions will also continue to be incentivized, since each of these visas creates at least 10 new jobs in the U.S.  Investment-based visas will continue to be processed regularly at U.S. Consulates (subject to current closures due to the pandemic).

Also, for those within the U.S. territory, there is also the possibility of filing a change of nonimmigrant status to an E status, which is currently processed within 2-5 months and can be expedited to 15 calendar days through payment of a premium processing fee.  E status is generally granted for a 2-year period and extensions or future visa applications abroad are available when the business continues to qualify for E purposes.

Furthermore, USCIS has stated thus far that it will continue to regularly process all immigration petitions. Therefore, even individuals currently affected by this temporary ban, may still file petitions (which take months or even years to be processed) that will likely be decided after the ban has been lifted or significantly reduced.