Biden Revokes Green Card Ban

On February 24, 2021, the Biden Administration revoked the green card ban, formally known as Proclamation 10014, in part because it “harms industries in the United States that utilize talent from around the world . . . ” The Trump Administration first enacted Proclamation 10014 in April 2020 as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, impeding the entry of employment-based immigrants. Proclamation 10014 affected not only businesses but also families. It is estimated that as a result of Proclamation 10014, as many as 120,000 family-based preference visas were not issued.

The revocation of Proclamation 10014 means that once State Department processing is once again normalized, family-sponsored immigrants and Diversity Visa immigrants may gain entrance to the United States.

Revoking Proclamation 10014 is likely just one step in the Biden Administration’s path to immigration reform. Biden supports expanding the number of high-skilled visas, simplifying the naturalization process, and ending limits on employment-based visas by country. On February 18, 2021, the Biden Administration unveiled a sweeping immigration reform bill, which would create an eight-year pathway to citizenship for eleven million undocumented people in the U.S., as well as expand worker visas and reform the H-1B visa program. Another vestige of the Trump Administration’s restrictive immigration policy, the nonimmigrant visa ban, is set to expire on March 31, 2021.

Although glimpses of a post-pandemic future are certainly in sight, COVID-19 travel restrictions remain in effect until expressly lifted by President Biden. As such, the general National Interest Exception (“NIE”) requirement to enter the U.S. remains.

To discuss obtaining an NIE, contact us. We’d be happy to help.

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