The Biden-Harris Administration has promised widesweeping immigration reform that will affect both family and employment-based visa applicants.
Within the first 100 days, President Biden has promised the following policy changes:
Reverse Trump's public charge rule: Under the Trump administration, immigration officials must consider an individual's prior use of government benefits - or their future likelihood to receive government benefits - before issuing them a visa or green card. This Trump policy has been challenged in the courts and the Biden administration would officially remove this policy.
For more information about the public charge rule, please check out several of our prior blog posts:
Rescind Trump's travel and refugee bans: President Biden will remove Trump's travel and refugee bans, especially the so-called "Muslim ban" that targeted individuals from predominately Muslim countries.
For more information about Trump's travel bans, please check out several of our prior blog posts:
Streamline and improve the naturalization process: President Biden will lower the filing fees for citizenship applications and require USCIS to work through the case backlog and prioritize the adjudication of N-400 applications.
Modernize the US immigration system: Under the Trump administration, many of the best and brightest workers have looked for opportunities elsewhere. The Biden administration hopes to update the US immigration system so that these skilled individuals will be able to remain in the United States and help grow the US economy.
Preserve the diversity visa lottery: President Trump suggested ending the diversity visa lottery program, which awards green cards to up to 50,000 immigrants worldwide. President Biden will continue the diversity visa program.
Increase the number of employment-based visas: Currently, only 140,000 employment-based visas are able to be issued each year. President Biden will increase this cap and exempt PhD graduates in STEM fields from these caps. In addition, President Biden hopes to issue green cards to all PhD graduates of US doctoral programs.
For more information regarding the Biden administration's immigration policies, please click here.
If you have any questions about these new policies and how they could affect your immigration plans, please contact Ayla Adomat, Esq. at ayla@adomatimmigration.com