How the travel ban may affect employment visas

As many people in Florida know, immigrating to the U.S. can be a long and complicated process. The travel ban that was recently allowed by the Supreme Court seems to have made the process for the people coming from six countries even more complicated. There were exceptions to the executive order for people with a bona fide relationship with an individual or entity in the United States, which only added to the complications.

In a previous post we discussed what this meant for family members trying to come here. However, there is also an exception for people who are coming here for employment immigration. Having a job within the U.S. can create a bona fide relationship with an entity. So, many people coming to the U.S. on employment visas will be able to still come as long as the employment visa was granted within the ordinary course and not designed to circumvent the executive order.

However, it could affect people who are trying to obtain employment visas with no current job offers unless they have a different bona fide relationship or close familial relationship. The bona fide relationship must be formal and documented.

The executive order should also not affect students who have been admitted to a U.S. college or university, but were out of the country when the executive order was allowed by the Supreme Court. This is contingent on the visa still being valid at the time of re-entry.

The executive order has had a major effect on many trying to come to Florida. However, there are exceptions to the travel ban and some will still be allowed in if they fall into an exception to the executive order. Immigration in general is complicated though and it is important to understand the law and process to ensure one can enter. Experienced attorneys understand the laws and process and may be able to guide one through it.

Source: travel.state.gov, “Executive Order on Visas,” accessed on July 17, 2017