US Immigration News

According to a recent Wall Street Journal report, US visa limitations are costing America the skills of some top tech talent. Interestingly, a high number of overseas tech workers are choosing Canada in which to live and work. Since 2016, Toronto has added more than 81,000 tech jobs, more than any other city in North America.

 

US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has announced new US visa sanctions against Russian and Belarussian military personnel believed to have operated in Bucha – a town on the outskirts of Ukrainian capital Kyiv where Russian officers are accused of executing residents, according to a recent Reuters report.

 

The US is currently experiencing a labour shortage, which in part has been fueled by a slump in immigration to the US. During the coronavirus pandemic, former US President Donald Trump put restrictions in place that brought immigration to the US to a halt, which almost saw United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) collapse due to lack of funds.

 

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced plans to extend expiring US work permits by 18 months. Tens of thousands of US immigrants are set to benefit from the extension as USCIS struggles to clear lengthy backlogs and processes US work visa renewals.

 

According to White House sources, the Biden administration is aiming to lure some of Russian President, Vladimir Putin’s, top innovators by waiving some US visa requirements for highly educated Russians looking to come to America. A spokesperson for the National Security Council confirmed that the plan is to ‘weaken Putin’s high-tech resources in the near term’.

 

Amid efforts to scrap the controversial, Trump-era ‘Remain in Mexico’ program, President Joe Biden’s powers to set US immigration policy will be scrutinized by the Supreme Court. Launched in 2019, the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy allowed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to send certain immigrants who entered the US back to Mexico.