Today the Department of State (DOS) announced an exception to the Presidential Proclamations suspending entry of Immigrants and Nonimmigrants to the U.S. where the President deemed their entry a risk to the U.S. labor market during the economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the exceptions listed in the text of the Proclamations, the DOS outlined three (3) additional limited exceptions provided to:
Applicants who are subject to aging out of their current immigrant visa classification for the expiration of the relevant Proclamations or within two (2) weeks thereafter;
Certain H and J visa applicants who are traveling to work in support of critical U.S. foreign policy objectives (such as COVID-19 response) and/or traveling at the request of the U.S. government;
Spouses and children of certain visa class holders, such as H, J, and L visa holders who are already exempted from or not subject to the nonimmigrant ban because, for example, the principal applicant is already in the United States.
The announcement further clarifies that Diversity Visa applicants who were not issues an immigrant visa as of April 23, 2020 remain subject to the proclamation. Finally, the announcement confirms that no valid visas will be revoked as a result of the proclamation.