US Immigration News

Nearly 245 family, employment and diversity-based US visa applicants have filed a further lawsuit against outgoing President, Donald Trump’s, US visa ban. The lawsuit demands immediate relief from the Trump proclamation, issued on June 22, which bans US entry for skilled workers on H1B, L1 and J1 visas.

 

According to data released by the US Department of State (DoS), the number of F1 visas issued to Indian students up to September 2020 had slumped by 64% amid the coronavirus pandemic. With US visa processing services temporarily suspended, Indian students were granted just 15,000 visas between October 2019 and September 2020.

 

A US district court has ruled that the spouses of H1B visa holders are not entitled to automatic work permit renewals. The ruling relates to H4 visa holders and the renewal of their Employment Authorization Documents (EADs), a program introduced by the Obama administration in 2015.

 

Despite recently being blocked by a Chicago federal judge, Trump’s controversial US immigration public charge rule is back in effect. The controversial rule has been relaunched as the US appeals court considers a case to suspend it amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

 

US President-elect, Joe Biden, has promised to immediately scrap a controversial US visa travel ban imposed on several Muslim-majority nations under the Trump administration. The ban currently applies to 13 countries, most of which are Muslim-majority or African nations.

 

New measures proposed by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which seek to restrict US visa access for foreign journalists, have been blasted by the Russian embassy in America. The Trump administration sought to tighten US visa access for foreign journalists amid an ongoing tit-for-tat spat with China.