•U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) has been suspended for 120 days.
•Number of refugees to be accepted into the U.S. reduced from 110,000 to 50,000.
•Syrian refugee admissions to the U.S. have been halted indefinitely.
Immigrant and nonimmigrant entries into the U.S. from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen have been halted for 90 days (excluding U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents). This has not been expanded to include any other countries. The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has confirmed as of today that no amendment is currently being worked on to expand the list of countries.
•The DOS has provisionally revoked all valid immigrant and nonimmigrant visas for individuals from the countries listed above.
•Visa Interview Waiver Program (VIWP) has been suspended, requiring an in-person visa interview for most applicants. As of today, some consulates still have active VIWP’s, including India. Applicants under the age of 14 and over the age of 79 are still eligible for the VIWP. Additionally eligible are applicants having a previous issuance of the same visa within one year.
•As of today, there have not been any rules, regulations, or orders proposed or issued pertaining to the H-1B process specifically. Furthermore, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has not confirmed whether it has suspended immigration benefit applications for individuals from the affected countries, who are already residing in the U.S.
There are numerous federal lawsuits ongoing that could affect the above-stated points. Just today, Lufthansa announced that it will permit travelers to Boston from all countries until February 5th due to a Massachusetts Federal District Court decision.
We will continue to monitor issues related to the executive orders, so stay tuned for updates.