In this video, we'll talk about the new National Interest Exceptions to the two Proclamations
banning professionals from coming into the United States. This is something that
was released this week. And we're going to break it down in this video who qualifies,
and how can you apply for this. So, watch this video, and I'll see you on the other side.
In this video, we'll talk about the new expanded list of exceptions to the Proclamation ban
on entry to the United States for those that are coming here to work and join their loved
ones. As you know, we had two Proclamations one was in April, and the other one was in June, and
both had a list, a long list of people that are banned to come to the United States. And under the
exceptions that were issued this week, we have some interesting developments. And I'm
going to go over this in this video. And we'll go through different classes of visas that are exempt
based on the National Interest Exception. But before that, if you're here for the first time,
make sure that you subscribe to our channel. Click that bell to be notified of new videos.
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that are interested in this content. Once again, if you're here for the first time,
my name is Jacob Sapochnik, and I am an immigration attorney. I'm located right here in
San Diego, California but we service clients in all 50 states. And we provide these updates for
you every single week. So, let's dive right in. So, by way of introduction, as you know, we had
the original Proclamation that was issued on April 23 that suspended a large class of mostly family
petitions, and a few employment-based petitions. And then, we had the Proclamation of June 22,
which expanded the ban on people that are coming here on H1B visas, H2B visas, L visas,
and J1 visas. And it was a pretty extensive list of restrictions as to who can come and
when they can come if they had those visas. And then, there was, in that particular Proclamation
of June 22, they had a provision that certain individuals can apply for an exception
under a National Interest Exception. And again, under the original Proclamation, that exception
was very narrow. It had to apply to people in the medical field, and also, specifically,
if they're coming in to perform a job in the national interest of the United States,
which was a very general statement. And now, about a month or so after this Proclamation,
we're here now, almost the middle of August, we received this week, a very expanded list of
exceptions, which I'm going to go over it, which basically details the different classes of visas,
who can qualify for this National Interest Exception, and how they can apply for it. So,
before we go into the list of exceptions, it is important to understand that if you qualify
under this exception, you still have to do the following. You still have to email your embassy
and request an expedited emergency appointment. First of all, if you don't, you're not going to be
able to apply under these exceptions because these exceptions are not granted to you automatically,
you actually have to apply and show that you qualify. So, the first thing that you have to
do… and again, we're going to link the statement, the announcement from the State Department
in the description of this video so you will be able to read it yourself as well,
the different classes. But it's really important for you to understand that if you do meet the
requirements, if you do meet the exceptions, the first thing that you have to do
is apply for an emergency expert appointment at your particular embassy. You do so by email.
And once you get that appointment, then you have to establish how you qualify under the National
Interest Exceptions that I'm going to be listing to you and explain to you right now in this video.
So, remember that even if you think that you qualify, you still have to email your individual
embassy and request an expedited appointment to be able to qualify for these exceptions. So,
let's run now and discuss those exceptions. So, for H1B visa, specifically, one of the exceptions
is listed as somebody who's coming back to work as a health care professional,
or somebody who's coming to work in the healthcare industry. So, that's already an exception that if
you can prove that, you can come back and get your visa stamping. Another very important exception,
which is new, based on this current release is that H1B employees that are coming back to work
in the same position with the same employer when they left the US, those are also qualified under
the exception. And as you remember, previously, the State Department clarified about a month ago,
that if the H1B worker was inside the US on the date that the Proclamation of June 22 was signed,
and then they left the United States, they're not subject to the Proclamation, they can go back
and apply for a visa. This expanded rule of exceptions also clarifies that if this H1B is
coming back to work for the same position with the same employer, they also qualify under the
National Interest Exception, as was released in the guidelines this week. The reason why
it's important is because if such H1B workers are not able to come back to the United States,
those employers are going to be suffering financial hardship,
trying to find a specialized replacement, like those H1B workers, and therefore,
it's important. Another exception is H1B workers with technical skills, senior managers, and those
that are coming back to the United States to help in the continued recovery of our economy.
Those are also... if you can show that, again, if you have a senior management position, or you have
a particular technical skill, I don't think it's going to be that difficult to prove that you're
coming back to work in that special capacity. All you need is a document from your company to stress
those facts. And I believe that those exceptions are going to be granted fairly easily. Also,
they’re stating exceptions that as long as the H1B worker can prove that their wages are definitely
beyond the prevailing wage, which is basically the basic wage and B1B workers need to be paid,
then they also should be able to come into the United States to join their employer. And again,
that's not that hard to prove. Again, the full list of exceptions for H1B is going to be linked
in this video but I want to kind of highlight the main ones. I think, in my mind, the main
one is that employees that are coming back to join an existing employer in the same position
should be fairly easy to prove they're going to be able to get their visas. For H2B workers,
the main exception is that those who are coming back to the United States
to help facilitate the economical recovery of the United States. And again,
I don't think it's going to be that hard to show it. Getting a letter from the employer,
proving the need and things like that. So again, H2B workers also have a very broad exception. And
I think it's going to be really important because a lot of employers are hurting right now. They
need seasonal workers. And those exceptions are definitely welcome, right now. Next, we move to
the J1. As you remember, the J1 was hit pretty hard. They limited most of the J1s except if
they were scholars or researchers. And now, there are exceptions, opened it up again to pretty much
all J1s. For old parents, old parents have to show that they're coming to work with childcare, maybe
kids with special needs, or certain requirements. I think that's going to help get more parents back
in here. For interns and trainees, they opened it up, as well, for exceptions, if they can show that
they're coming to join companies that are involved in the economic recovery of the United States.
Again, I think it's going to be pretty straightforward to apply for those exceptions.
And a big one is for teachers. Teachers were completely barred under the original rules.
And now, teachers have… if they can prove to their specialized teachers. So, typically,
they speak more than one language, and things like that, they could also qualify for an exception,
which is huge because a lot of schools are hurting for J1 teachers. And that could open the door for
a lot of these teachers to come back. So, we are excited about that exception as well.
When it comes to L1 applicants, once again, they were pretty limited before and created a
lot of issues with the government violating the WTO treaty. So, once again, for L1, we have a
very broad exception as well. If you're coming to work in the same position with the same company,
they are also able to get their L1 stamped. Also, they're coming to work and improve the
national security, national interest of the United States, they also got to be able to
come and get an exception. And once again, you can read the full list of exceptions
in the link description of this video. But again, essentially, with this broad exception,
almost everyone that needs to get a visa stamping as long as they can get an expedited
appointment. I don't see a reason why they won't be able to come to the United States,
which is amazing because right now, we have a lot of multinationals that’d be very upset about it.
And I think this is going to open up the door for more people to be able to come and apply.
With respect to L2, H4 dependents, the same rules apply. If their principals are going to get visas,
dependents are going to be allowed to use some exceptions and follow them as well. And one more
thing for family members. If you remember, under the original Proclamation, there were people that
were going to be aged out. Under this exception, if there are family members that are going to be
aging out, or there's a risk of age out, they also can request an emergency appointment, and try to
come in as an exception. That was stated at the bottom of the update, you can see it as well. So,
if there's an age-out risk for a child, under the age of 21, they can also apply under this
expanded exception. Again, this is now official in the exceptions because before, it was only
a matter of policy. Now, if you look at this thing, if you look at these exceptions,
and why they came at this time, it's pretty interesting. Because remember, as I mentioned in
a previous video, when I gave you an update about the litigation, the video is going to be linked
also in the description of this video, there's a huge litigation coming up on August 27. There's
going to be a big hearing. Why are they doing this now? Right? It's pretty interesting, right? So,
all these exceptions suddenly are open now, and more and more people can come.
And [inaudible] the ban. So, it's pretty interesting, what they’re doing now,
just weeks before this big hearing. There can be a ruling whether there's going to be an
injunction on this ban, and maybe, they're trying to say, “Well, we gave him all these exceptions.
There’s already really no need for this injunction because there are so many people that can still
come in.” We think that they are doing this, all these exceptions, to try to hurt the litigation
because they will… “litigation should be moved because we gave them all these exceptions.” So,
we'll see what happens. But the reality is that this is happening right now. There are a lot of
exceptions. National Interest Exception, as I outlined in this video, people can apply.
People who are stuck abroad right now should be able to come in right now.
But remember, embassies are still closed in most countries, you have to apply for an
emergency appointment to be able to qualify under these exceptions, as I mentioned in this video.
And once again, if you're here for the first time, make sure you subscribe to our channel
so you don't miss any of our updates like today. This just came out today and I updated it
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the recent update. So, once again, thanks for watching, and I'll see you in the next video.