On late Friday, January 27, 2017, the Trump administration threw international travel into chaos by signing and immediately seeking to implement an executive order barring travel from the following named countries: Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia.
This lead to widespread confusion as to who these orders actually applied to with. Initially the Department of Homeland Security issued an interpretation the order which indicated that it was to be enforced against visa holders only, not green card holders.
So what does all of this mean on a practical level right now? As of right now anyone who was in transit with a valid visa, meaning anyone who had started a trip to the United States by Friday or after receiving guidance from the airlines on Saturday, from one of the named countries is eligible to complete their trip and enter the United States. Likewise, green card holders from the named countries are also being allowed in on a case by case basis after additional screening as of today. Travelers from the named countries covered by this order and policy can expect to spend several additional hours after landing in additional screening and questioning. Any traveler from the named countries who does not fall into these categories will either be prevented from boarding the airplane at their original departure port or will be detained and sent back upon arrival at a US port of entry.
Currently the order is limited to the named countries only, however, the administration has indicated that they are considering adding additional countries, such as Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in the future. Based on the administrations current behavior such a change could come with little to no notice.
For right now any individual from one of the named countries who has a green card needs to be extremely careful about any trip outside the United States and should avoid leaving the United States if at all possible so long as the order remains even partially enforceable. If you do need to travel you should be careful to make sure that your return port of entry is either Boston, New York or Newark where CBP seems to be respecting the court stay to a greater degree than at other ports of entry.
If you have only an immigration visa or temporary travel visa do not attempt to enter the United States until the order has been explicitly rescinded or repealed by the courts. If you arrive at a US port of entry with only a visa from one of the named countries and you were not already in transit then you will almost certainly be denied entry and will likely have their visa cancelled as well.
The current situation remains quite fluid and is literally changing from day to day. We will endeavor to update you about this situation as we confirm additional information and news.
For more information about the EB-5 visa, you can call our office (516) 900-4529 or email us at info@tariqlaw.com.
