Santa Fe A/S : Immigration Alert - U.S | Executive Order Update

President Donald Trump said Thursday February 17, 2017, that he would issue a new executive order week commencing February 20, 2017, 'tailored' to a federal appeals court decision that blocked his travel ban on citizens from seven Muslim-majority nations.

The Justice Department has stated 'Rather than continuing this litigation, the president intends in the near future to rescind the order and replace it with a new, substantially revised executive order to eliminate what the panel erroneously thought were constitutional concerns'.

In our opinion, foreign nationals from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen should continue to exercise extreme caution before traveling to or departing from the United States in light of the President's announcement and as a matter of practicality should delay all foreign travel until there is more clarity of the administration's intentions.

Other News

In other news, in March, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will only accept employment-based adjustment applications from foreign nationals with a priority date that is current for final action under the State Department's March Visa Bulletin.

It is highly recommended that you file in February or March if you are eligible for early filing since we have no indication as to when early filing will open up again.

In order to file in March, you must have a priority date before:

EB-1
Current for all countries.

EB-2
China: December 15, 2012
India: June 1, 2008
All other countries: Current

EB-3 Professionals and Skilled Workers
China: March 15, 2014
India: March 22, 2005
Philippines: March 15, 2012
All other countries: December 1, 2016

We will continue to monitor the news to keep our clients updated on potential changes to the U.S. immigration system.