US Immigration News

Amid a record number of Cubans arriving at the US southern border with Mexico, Washington and Havana have entered into tentative US visa talks for the first time in four years. Cuban officials visited Washington recently for the highest-level migration talks since Joe Biden took office.

 

The Biden administration will launch a program enabling US citizens and groups to financially sponsor Ukrainians forced to flee their homeland following the Russian invasion. Ukrainians selected for entry to the US will be granted ‘humanitarian parole’, which will enable them to bypass US visa and refugee programs that can take years to complete.

 

Anti-corruption campaigner, Bill Browder, has called for a total US visa ban for British lawyers who he alleges to be ‘enabling’ Russian oligarchs. A long-time critic of Russian President, Vladimir Putin, US-born financier Browder said a US visa ban would ‘strike at the heart of what has become a persistent problem of using the UK legal system against reporters and whistleblowers’.

 

New research shows a rise in the number of E2 visa approvals for wealthy Canadians. The US E2 visa is the most popular investor visa among entrepreneurs from Canada, who are reportedly moving to American states such as Arizona, Florida, and Texas for warmer weather and greater freedom. 

 

Amid rising demand for temporary workers ahead of the summer season, the Biden administration has announced that an extra 35,000 US seasonal work visas will be made available. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, said: “The decision will help American businesses in need of workers as the summer approaches.”

 

The controversial Title 42 US immigration rule, which allows US immigration authorities to quickly remove migrants and asylum seekers in the interests of protecting public health, will be scrapped by the Biden administration on May 23. The policy was enforced under the Trump administration following the coronavirus outbreak.