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Immigration News Briefs

Provided by Humera Subhani

August 2020

F1 rule on online studies rescinded

The Trump administration has backtracked on a rule that would've required international students whose universities remain online-only amid the coronavirus pandemic to transfer schools or leave the U.S. The decision came on July 14, following multiple lawsuits as well as a public outcry by colleges, states, and tech giants across the U.S.

The decision to rescind the ICE rule was announced at the start of a hearing over a federal lawsuit filed by Harvard University and MIT. Federal immigration authorities
said they had agreed to "return to the status quo" in place prior to the ICE's July 6 announcement of the rule. The decision provided relief to many foreign students whose colleges plan to use online-only learning in the fall because of Covid-19. Such students would have been at risk of losing their visas and being deported.

Visa restrictions on legal immigration
Trump issued a proclamation in June barring many categories of foreign workers and curbing immigration visas through the end of the year, moves the White House said will protect U.S. workers from job losses amid the pandemic. The ban expands earlier restrictions and the measures will apply only to applicants seeking to come to the U.S., not workers already here.

The freeze will apply to the H-1B visa category for highly skilled workers, the H-4 visa for their spouses and the L visas companies use to transfer international employees into the U.S. Most H-2B visas—for temporary workers who would stay in the U.S. for up to three years—also will be suspended, the officials said, with exceptions for food-service employees. The freeze on “cultural exchange” J visas will include exemptions for applicants whose entry is considered to be in the U.S. national interest, a loophole potentially available to the roughly 20,000 people who come to the United States annually as “au pairs” to provide child care for U.S. families.

On April 22, Trump ordered a 60-day freeze on several categories of family- and employment-based immigration visas, and that suspension has now been extended through the end of 2020. While U.S. citizens can continue to sponsor spouses and minor children, Trump’s orders will bar most other categories of applicants, affecting more than half of the immigration visas issued in a typical year. The earlier order put a halt on employment-based immigration visas as well as the family-based categories for parents and siblings, as well as Diversity Visa Lottery applicants. Legal permanent residents who are trying to bring their spouses and children into the country also will be unable to do so.

APPLICATION FINAL ACTION DATES—AUGUST 2020

FAMILY	India	Pakistan/Bangladesh
1st	15Aug14	15Aug14
2A	Current	Current
2B	08Jun15	08Jun15
3rd	01Jun08	01Jun08
4th	22Feb05	08Sep06

EMPLOYMENT	India	Pakistan/Bangladesh
1st	08Feb18	Current
2nd	08Jul09	Current
3rd	01Oct09	01Apr19
Other	01Oct09	01Apr19
4th	Current	Current
5th	Current	Current

DATES FOR FILING VISA APPLICATIONS—AUGUST 2020

FAMILY	India	Pakistan/Bangladesh
1st	08Jun15	08Jun15
2A	01Jul20	01Jul20
2B	15Mar16	15Mar16
3rd	08May09	08May09
4th	08Nov05	01Sep07

EMPLOYMENT	India	Pakistan/Bangladesh
1st	01Jun18	Current
2nd	15Aug09	Current
3rd	01Feb10	01Apr20
Other	01Feb10	01Apr20
4th	Current	Current
5th	Current	CurrentB