Biden Administration Allows Work Visa Ban to Expire; Other Restrictions on Travel Remain in Place
/The Biden Administration has allowed the temporary work visa ban (Presidential Proclamation 10052) to expire on March 31, 2021 and will not extend it. The US Department of State has issued an update confirming the expiration.
Presidential Proclamation 10052, issued on June 22, 2020, barred US Consulates from issuing certain temporary work visas, including H-1B, H-2B, L-1, and some types of J-1 visa based on the previous administration’s belief that doing so will avoid the risk of “displacing and disadvantaging United States workers during the current recovery.”
Now that the work visa ban has expired, qualified applicants can now resume applications for temporary work visas in the affected categories. However, other travel barriers related to COVID-19 still remain in effect.
Regional Travel Bans and Consular Services Limitations Remain in Effect
While the decision to allow the visa ban to lapse is welcome news, individuals may still face challenges traveling to the U.S. due to other COVID-19 measures, including regional travel bans, consular service limitations and COVID-19 testing requirements.
The regional travel bans for the UK, Ireland, Schengen territories, China, Brazil, Iran, and South Africa remain in effect, so any visa applicants or non-US citizen/permanent resident travelers must continue to take these restrictions into consideration when either applying for a visa in or traveling from any of those countries to the US.
These regional travel bans restrict most foreign nationals from entering the U.S. if they have been physically present in one of the affected countries in the 14 days before attempting to enter the U.S. These regional travel bans do not have a set expiration date, so they will remain in effect until they are specifically rescinded by the Biden Administration.
The restrictions on nonessential travel between the US, Canada and Mexico also remain in place.
Also, as Consulates continue to gradually resume routine visa operations during COVID, visa interview availability will continue to be subject to the operational capacity and local health concerns at each Consulate.
Finally, all individuals travelling to the US must continue to provide documentation of a negative COVID-19 test within three days of travel or proof of recovery from a recent COVID-19 infection, consistent with current CDC guidelines.
Ellis Porter will continue to monitor all travel restriction developments very closely.
If you have any questions about current travel restrictions, please do not hesitate to contact a member of your Ellis Porter service team.