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Four Ways Coronavirus Can Impact Your Immigration Situation
As the United States responds to coronavirus, many immigrants are feeling frightened and confused about how this will impact them. While things are changing quickly and it’s difficult to be certain of what we can expect, our team is here for you and wants to help. In today’s blog, we’re looking at a few of the ways COVID-19 has affected the immigration process and what these changes mean for you.
Limited Travel Across the United States and Mexico Border
As of March 20th and until at least the middle of May, non-essential travel between the United States and Mexico has been forbidden. Essential travel includes U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents re-entering the United States, travel for medical purposes, travel for education, travel for work, travel for emergency response, cross-border trade, governmental and diplomatic travel, and military travel. All other travel is on hold. These changes mean that visits to see family or take a vacation will not be allowed in this interim.
There are similar restrictions on travel to Canada, Europe, and other places.
Uscis Has Suspended In-Person Services
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is responsible for green cards, citizenship, asylum, and granting refugee status. All USCIS offices are closed to the public until May 4. This means that while USCIS staff are still working behind the scenes, any client-facing appointment (like biometrics and interviews) is not happening. It also means that naturalization ceremonies are on hold. Interviews for those in the immigration process are also going to be pushed back to a later date. However, services that don’t need in-person contact are still being processed. This includes processing of employment authorization cards and approval of some immigration petition cases.
Admission of Refugees Is Paused
No more refugees will be admitted into the United States until at least April 6th. The International Organization for Migration supported this decision, saying that travel would put refugees at risk for getting sick.
ZafiroLaw Can Help Your Immigration Situation
If you or a loved one is dealing with one of these issues, or any immigration matter upended by Coronavirus, you need to talk to an experienced immigration attorney right away. Our team is here to help. Contact us today and we will do our best to point you in the correct direction.
