On February 24, President Biden signed a Proclamation in which he cancelled some of the limitations on immigration imposed by the previous president Trump. Essentially, the impact of this order is to revoke the following restrictions:
- Presidential Proclamation 10014 of April 22, 2020, which established a general suspension of the issuance of new immigrant visas (understood as permanent residence permits or ‘Green Cards’), with some exceptions.
- Section 1 of the Presidential Proclamation 10052 of June 22, 2020, which extended the previous one until December 31 2020
- Section 1 of the Presidential Proclamation 10131 of December 31, 2020, which extended the previous one until March 31 2021
The suspension of entry imposed [by Trump] does not advance the interests of the United States. To the contrary, it harms the United States, including by preventing certain family members of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents from joining their families here. It also harms industries in the United States that utilize talent from around the world.
If the same principle is applied, it is foreseeable that the suspension on non-immigrant visas such as those mentioned above will be lifted soon, or that it will not be renewed when it expires on March 31, 2021.
It should not be forgotten that E-1 (trade) and E-2 type visas (used by entrepreneurs when establishing businesses in the US) continue to be processed without restrictions and have never been subject to limitations during the pandemic.
It should also be remembered that travel bans to the US are still active from various regions of the world (Schengen countries, United Kingdom, Brazil, China and Iran) for people who have passed through them in the previous 14 days. They were imposed in the first half of 2020 to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus and include some exceptions. It is reasonable to expect that they will be eliminated in the coming months, as the percentage of the population that has been vaccinated increases in the US and in these areas, and when the number of daily cases has been reduced in all of them in a significant way.
We must take these news as a new sign of the Biden Era aligned with the expectations described in our article a few weeks ago ” The Biden-era begins: impact on international-companies.“