Business Immigration Insights

People from dozens of countries who apply for U.S. visitor visas between January and August this year may be surprised to learn they will have to post high-dollar bonds and will get only short-term visas.

A temporary final rule initiating a 12-month pilot program requiring visitor visa bonds is set to go into effect on August 20^th.  This rule, authorized under INA 8 USC 1201(g)(3), allows consular officers to require a “Maintenance of Status and Departure Bond” (the "visa bond") for those applying for nonimmigrant visas. Historically, State Department guidance, as detailed in the Foreign Affairs Manual (“FAM”), has discouraged the use of visa bonds, suggesting they should be rarely employed.

On the night of Monday, April 20, 2020, the President tweeted that he would “protect” American jobs during the COVID-19 crisis by issuing an Executive Order that would “temporarily suspend immigration.”  After several uncertain days of conflicting information, reported in the media, about how sweeping the scope of the order would be, it turns out to affect a very small subset of intending US immigrants:  those who are outside the United States and will immigrate here by obtaining an immigrant visa.

On April 22, 2020, the White House issued the order, entitled “Proclamation ...

The President’s Executive Order, commonly called the “travel ban”, has raised many questions.  We answer the most frequently asked questions below, and will update them as additional information becomes available.

I am from one of the named countries and am outside of the United States.  Can I apply for a nonimmigrant (temporary) or immigrant (permanent) visa at a US consulate?

On January 27, 2017, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) provisionally revoked most valid nonimmigrant and immigrant visas issued to nationals from the seven countries subject to the travel ban. Certain diplomatic and other visa categories are exempt from this action. This move was largely symbolic since individuals subject to the travel ban are not permitted to enter the United States. However, if and when the travel ban is lifted, individuals from the listed countries would most likely need to reapply to a U.S. consulate abroad for a new visa before they could travel to the United States.