New Executive Order Streamlines Dreamers’ Access to Employment-Based Visas

President Biden has delivered good news to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”) recipients and for Dreamers who were shut out of the DACA program.  His new executive order will help college graduate Dreamers obtain employment-based visas.  This will also lead to a potential path to permanent residence.Hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients are already lawfully employed across the United States. There are over 400,000 undocumented students enrolled in higher education. Many of these students are multilingual, enriching the educational experiences of all students and helping to produce better members of an increasingly globalized workforce. Many are pursuing careers in STEM, healthcare, and teaching - fields that face severe labor shortages.These potential applicants have grown up in the United States and have been educated in U.S. schools and universities. Many are eligible for employment-based nonimmigrant status, such as E-2, O-1, and H-1B. However, because most have accrued unlawful presence in the United States, they are subject to 3 or 10 year bars when they leave the United States as part of the employment-based visa process.Many employees are eligible to have their unlawful presence waived under existing statutory authority. However, applying for the waiver requires them to leave the United States—and there is no guarantee they can come back. This can lead to months of uncertainty and separation from their families and jobs.President Biden’s executive order streamlines this process, so they can obtain a nonimmigrant waiver. Thus, they would be able to obtain a work visa, without facing a 3 or 10-year bar. This opens up an important and more certain employment pathway, benefitting the undocumented students and employees, employers, and the U.S. workforce.We expect that the government will provide more details on the waiver process in the coming weeks. The action is likely to face legal challenges, and additional uncertainty after the 2024 presidential election.  So, we recommend contacting us for a consultation if you think you may benefit from this executive order, so you can take action as soon as possible.We are excited about this monumental change to help these young adults, their families, and the U.S. economy! We will continue to share information as we learn more.