On Monday, President Trump announced his plan to sign an executive order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States amid the coronavirus pandemic.
UPDATE: The executive order was signed April 22, 2020
To anyone going through the immigration process, planning to do so, or those with active visas and green cards, this was likely unsettling news to hear.
This is obviously a stressful time for anyone going through, or planning to go through, the immigration journey. If you have any questions for us, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We’re here to help in any way.
Breaking it down
If you’re feeling ambitious, you can read the document here. For the rest of us, here’s the TL;DR:
This order only applies to green card applications at the consulate
This order applies to people seeking green cards who are currently outside the U.S, and restrictions will last 60 days. Individuals in the U.S. and applying for green cards through filing of the I-485 with USCIS are not impacted.
USCIS is still taking green card applications for individuals in the US
If you are in the US and have a pending green card application, the executive order doesn’t affect your timeline for now.
USCIS is still taking work visa petitions and applications
O-1, H-1B, L-1 and other nonimmigrant worker programs are not impacted.
International Students
Keep doing what you need to do: submit your H-1B and O-1 applications, apply for those jobs, and reach out to us for help. We’ll let you know if anything changes.