Expect Biden administration to eliminate many Trump immigration restrictions
Mountain View immigration attorney Sophie Alcorn last week informed Silicon Valley Realtors of the many roadblocks to immigration created by the Trump administration. She expects many of these restrictions will be relaxed, if not eliminated once the Biden administration takes over.
“Compassion wins,” said Alcorn, alluding to the soon easing of immigration restrictions.
Alcorn related the different paths to obtaining a green card and eventually U.S. citizenship, from procuring a student visa, or any one of a number of employment-based (EB) visas, investment, or marriage to a U.S. citizen. She
said paths to citizenship will no longer be delayed as they had been during the last four years.
Alcorn said the immigration process is complex, but the Trump administration made the process even more complicated and stressful for many individuals and families with extreme vetting, travel bans, family separation, difficulties seeking asylum, uncertainty of the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) status, deportations, and deliberate delays in obtaining visas. She noted there was particular animosity toward the H-1B visa, a popular work visa held by many foreign tech workers in Silicon Valley.
To obtain an H-1B visa, an employer must offer a job in the U.s.to a foreign worker and apply for their H1B visa petition with the U.S. Immigration Department. Once approved, the foreign worker can work in the U.S. for that employer. There is cap to the number of H-1B visas, as well as other regulations, more of which were added by the Trump administration to make it harder to obtain this visa.
Alcorn’s office has been busy litigating many
H-1B visa cases and has a 95 percent success rate at federal court. She has H-1B clients who have moved or are contemplating on selling their home and moving to Canada. At times U.S. Immigration Services failed to renew a spouse’s work authorization linked to her H-4 visa status as the spouse of an H-1B visa holder, resulting in the loss of that spouse’s source of income.
In the first 100 days of his administration, Alcorn expects Biden to undo many of Trump’s executive orders and regulations, including green card and citizenship backlogs, the Muslim ban, family separation and asylum policies, restrictions on dreamers, and more. Restrictions will be replaced by new initiatives to promote immigrant entrepreneurship and integrate talents of new immigrants into communities.
Foreigners can buy property in the U.S., said Alcorn. Many do not qualify for a Social Security Number, but they may get an ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) in order to get mortgage approval.
Alcorn believes foreigners will continue to want to live and work in Silicon Valley. “The secret sauce of Silicon Valley is it has quite an allure.” She said foreigners, many who are investors, know there are more production managers here, and founders of companies want to be at the center, close to where the tech stations and start-ups are.
Alcorn is an Immigration & National Law Specialist certified by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. She is the only immigration attorney in Santa Clara County with this designation.
Information provided in this column is presented by the Realtor members of the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors at www.silvar.org. Send questions on any topic to rmeily@silvar.org.