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Immigration Guide - October 2021

Dear Clients, Friends and Colleagues:

Immigration once again takes the spotlight as the Biden administration turns to issues such as deportation, labor shortage, humanitarian applications, work exploitation, border patrol measures as well as travel restrictions. Highlights of such discussions are in this edition.

Also in this newsletter, we turn our focus on some ways potential investors can enter the United States. We have included a news story on direct EB-5 Investment Visa for potential investors. We have also included a video comparing E-2 Visa versus the International Entrepreneur Parole. We have plenty more videos and resources on our media page. Do share to anyone you know who you think would benefit from our videos and this newsletter.

Please contact the Polutan Law Group if you have any questions, or if you have any topics you would like us to feature in our next video. Thank you.

Best,
Verna
Democrats quietly scramble to include immigration provision in social spending bill
Democrats are scrambling intensely behind the scenes to address immigration in the framework they are crafting to expand the nation’s social safety net, according to people with knowledge of the situation, even as President Biden and other party leaders have said little publicly about their strategy in recent weeks.
Immigrants could fix the
U.S. labor shortage
Companies across the United States can’t find enough employees. One immediate solution is simple: Bring in more foreign workers. The US needs roughly 10 million people, including low-wage and high-skilled workers, to fill job openings nationwide — and only 8.4 million Americans are actively seeking work.
Democrats want immigration deportation shields in economic plan
Senate Democrats have abandoned plans to achieve a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants as part of President Joe Biden’s economic agenda, and instead are pursuing a proposal that would provide temporary deportation protections.
U.S. Immigration Agency overwhelmed by 20,000 Afghan humanitarian requests
The number of humanitarian requests has continued to surge in recent days, with the US Immigration Agency receiving nearly 20,000 such requests, more than 10 times the number of humanitarian applications submitted from around the world in a typical year, according to a USCIS official.
New immigration policy aims to protect undocumented immigrants against work exploitation
In recent weeks, the Biden administration has done something that hasn’t been done by a presidential administration since 1986 — explicitly direct immigration agencies not to arrest undocumented immigrants who don’t pose a threat.
Border Patrol repeatedly gave agents light punishments, report finds
After an inquiry a private Facebook group where racist memes were shared, 60 employees were found to have violated the agency's code of conduct. Two were fired.
Direct EB-5 Investment: A source of capital for your business to consider
The EB-5 investment industry has never been more appealing to potential investors because the EB-5 Modernization Rule was invalidated on June 22, 2021. As a result, the minimum investment threshold has been reduced for both targeted employment area (TEA) projects and non-TEA projects. A TEA is either a rural area or an area with high unemployment. 
Moscow decries U.S. move to call Russians 'homeless' for visa purposes
Russia has condemned a decision by the United States to add Russians seeking U.S. visas to a list of "homeless nationals" who can apply for visas in third countries. The move allowed Russians to apply for U.S. visas in Warsaw instead of their home country after the American Embassy stopped processing most visa applications in May due to Moscow's ban on employing embassy staff in Russia.
Immigration arrests inside U.S. hit decade low as border arrests surged, report says
While border arrests hit a record high over the last year, immigration arrests elsewhere in the U.S. plummeted to their lowest level in more than a decade, according to data obtained by The Washington Post, a reflection of the country’s shift in immigration policy under the Biden administration.
November 2021 Visa Bulletin
The EB-1 category is current. There is slight movement forward for China and India in the
EB-2 category. There is significant retrogression in the EB-3 category for China and India.
White House rescinds current regional COVID travel bans
and imposes vaccination requirement
On October 25, 2021, President Biden announced a presidential proclamation titled “A Proclamation on Advancing the Safe Resumption of Global Travel During the COVID-⁠19 Pandemic”. Effective on November 8, 2021, at 12:01 am (ET), the proclamation moves away from country-by-country travel restrictions and adopts an air travel policy that relies primarily on vaccination, with limited exceptions.

The memo states:
This proclamation governs the entry into the United States of noncitizen nonimmigrants -- that is, noncitizens who are visiting the United States or otherwise being admitted temporarily -- traveling to the United States by air. It suspends the entry of unvaccinated noncitizen nonimmigrants, except in limited circumstances, and it ensures that the entry of unvaccinated noncitizen nonimmigrants is consistent with applicable health and safety determinations made by the Director of the CDC, including a requirement that, where appropriate, such individuals agree and arrange to become fully vaccinated against COVID-19 upon their arrival.
Frequently asked questions on COVID-19 vaccinations and testing
for international travel
  • The Biden Administration announced a new international air travel policy that is stringent, consistent across the globe, and guided by public health.
  • Starting on November 8, foreign national air travelers to the United States will be required to be fully vaccinated and to provide proof of vaccination status prior to boarding an airplane to fly to the United States, with only limited exceptions.
  • The CDC has determined that for the purposes of entry into the United States, vaccines accepted will include those FDA approved or authorized, as well as vaccines with an emergency use listing (EUL) from the World Health Organization (WHO). See the CDC's website for more details.
  • Fully vaccinated air travelers will continue to be required to show documentation of a pre-departure negative viral test from a sample taken within three days of travel to the United States before boarding. That includes all travelers – U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (LPRs), and foreign nationals.
  • To further strengthen protections, unvaccinated travelers – whether U.S. citizens, LPRs, or the small number of excepted unvaccinated foreign nationals – will now need to show documentation of a negative viral test from a sample taken within one day of travel to the United States.
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