Biden lifts the ban on US visas, a sigh of relief for immigrants

US President Joe Biden has removed the ban on US work visas. The ban was imposed by the Trump administration. As the ban worked against the interests of the US, the Biden administration went ahead to scrap the visa ban that had blocked the entry of foreign skilled workers into the US.

The decision is a huge relief to the US immigration scene as the ban had not only affected the prospects of immigrants but also brought USCIS to the brink of collapse. This was a result of the drying up of revenues from US visa applications.

AILA found that an estimated 120,000 family-based preference visas were lost. This was largely attributed to the freeze in the 2020 budget due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the Trump administration, immigrants were disallowed to bring their family members with them. Only US citizens applying for US visas for their spouses or children under 21 years of age were allowed to bring family members. Visa applicants who were trying to move in and work in USA were also not allowed entry into the US. The only exception here was if the profession of the applicant was considered to be of benefit to the interest of the nation. An example was health professionals.

Besides these categories of immigrants, even visa lottery winners were denied entry. They were not given Green Cards which would have allowed them to live in the US permanently.

With the ban on visas came a backlog of 437,000 visa applications which was for family-based visas alone.

By the end of 2020, a ruling was issued by a federal judge that TFWs could enter the country in case their employers are members of the US Chamber of Commerce or any other sizeable organization that represents most of the US economy.

Just days before the lifting of the US visa ban, the diversity lottery winners won a legal challenge to get their visas extended. They had feared that their visas would get expired before the ban on Green Card got lifted. Now that the Biden administration has lifted that ban, they will be able to come to the US on their visa.

Along with lifting the ban, the Biden administration has also proposed legislation to limit presidential authority to issue bans on immigrants in the future. Also, Biden has called to increase the number of diversity visas issued via lottery from 55,000 to 85,000.

If you are looking to Study, Work, Visit, Invest or Migrate to USA, talk to Y-Axis, the World’s No.1 Immigration & Visa Company.

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Note:

USCIS – United States Citizenship and Immigration Services

AILA - American Immigration Lawyers Association

TFW- Temporary Foreign Workers