Our office wanted to update all on President Trump’s executive order on immigration. The Supreme Court has now temporarily reinstated portions of the Executive Order as it relates to immigrant and non-immigrant visa holders from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. The order will go into effect on June 28, 2017. Based on the information issued by the Supreme Court, the following is what we know.

We can now confirm that individuals from the above listed countries that DO NOT have a “bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States” or DO NOT hold current immigrant or non-immigrant visas will be banned from entering the United States for the next 90 days. This Order does NOT affect individuals who currently hold valid immigrant or non-immigrant visas, are legal permanent residents (“green-card holders”), or individuals from the above listed counties that hold dual citizenship with another country, excluding the United States (i.e., a dual citizen of Iran and the United Kingdom, etc.).

Those with current, valid immigrant or non-immigrant visas will be allowed to enter on their visas and NO current, valid visas will be revoked. It is our recommendation that if you are an individual or have an employee who has a valid visa that is about to expire that you do not travel outside of the United States until you contact our office in advance of the visa expiring. This ban includes travel into the United States as well. Therefore, you cannot enter the United States if you are an individual from the above listed countries and hold an EXPIRED immigrant or non-immigrant visa or are in the process of applying for a visa.

Those with a visa that is about to expire may be eligible for a waiver that will allow the entry of an affected individual if it can be proven that entry is valid due to a “bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States”. Examples of this relationship as stated by the Supreme Court include the following:

1. “A close familial relationship… A foreign national who wishes to enter the United States to live with or visit a family member”;
2. “As for entities, the relationship must be formal documented, and formed in the ordinary course, rather than for the purpose of evading the Executive Order”, the following examples were given by the Supreme Court:
a. “Students from the designated countries who have been admitted to the University…have such a relationship with an American entity”;
b. “…[W]orker who accepted an offer of employment from an American company or a lecturer invited to address an American audience”.

We are awaiting further guidance on this “waiver” process.

This memo is based on the information provided by the Supreme Court. DHS has stated that they will provide further guidance for implementation in the coming days.

To reiterate, if you or your employees are immigrant and non-immigrant visa holders, such as those on student or work visas AND are from one of the above delineated countries, we recommend that you do not leave the United States if your visa is about to EXPIRE until further notice from our office. Otherwise, you may continue to travel as you normally would until further notice.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact our office. We would be more than happy to discuss this with you and ease your concerns to the best of our ability.

Update on President Trump’s Immigration Executive Order

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