Attorney Dev Banad Viswanath Working with Clients in India NOW! And President Joe Biden’s Immigration Bill has been Introduced to Congress!
By
Dev B. Viswanath, Esq.
Attorney Dev Banad Viswanath is working out of the India Offices from now until of March 5th 2021. For anyone interested in setting up a personal in-person consultation or same time zone consultation through Skype/Zoom or phone, may contact our offices or email Info@Banadlaw.com, listing the city they wish to have the consultation and their contact details. The attorney will be in Bangalore, Mumbai, and New Delhi. The exact dates are as follows:
- Bangalore/Bengaluru: February 18th through February 23rd and again March 2nd through March 4th
- Mumbai/Bombay: February 24th through February 27th
- Delhi: February 28th and March 1st
The President’s Democratic Backed Immigration Bill has been Introduced to Congress, Hope is in the Air!!!
In line with the priorities and agenda that President Biden has espoused, and in the spirit of the proposal for a Comprehensive Immigration Bill that is meant to be exactly that, comprehensive, Democrats in Congress have introduced to the two chambers Immigration Bills which are uniformly and collectively called the US Citizenship Act of 2021.
Senator Bob Menendez introduced the bill and is a co-sponsor of it in the Senate and Representative Linda Sanchez introduced the companion bill in the House of Representatives. While most that following immigration policies, laws, and reforms, know that the road ahead is hopeful but long and arduous, they almost also uniformly believe the final bill, that may get voted on, will not be as rosy or robust with Immigration Wishlist items, that the President has proposed for the bill.
For example, while the President was reluctant to discuss much enforcement measures that were key parts of previous comprehensive immigration bills, there is a strong likelihood that if the democrats really want to see the reform bill passed, there are several key provisions of Enforcement which will be included in a final bill.
Furthermore, President Biden suggested a pathway to citizenship for the undocumented, but seemed to aggregate DACA beneficiaries and so called “dreamers” (those who may benefit from legislation because they were brought to the United States as children and have earned their degrees here or went to the military), as well as those with TPS, and finally all other undocumented Foreign Nationals with no serious criminal history. I believe that this two was a wishlist item that many conservatives would see as flatly Amnesty or all, and there will be no bipartisan support. However, there may be sizable bi-partisan support for DACA/Dreamers and those with TPS (Temporary Protected Status) since most of them are living and legally working here and paying taxes across the board.
Among other reforms to the legal immigration system, the bill notably includes a provision to prevent presidents from issuing categorical bans on immigration. It would also remove barriers to family-based immigration, including lengthy visa backlogs and employment-based green cards, which have been relatively inaccessible for workers in lower-wage industries.
Also, the bill will allow for dual intent for F1 students which is a huge benefit for those who enter as students and advocates. The bill includes provisions to reduce immigrant visa backlogs, recapture unused immigrant visa numbers from past years, and eliminate per-country employment-based (EB) immigrant visa (IV) caps.
For any questions of concerns, please do contact an experienced immigration professional.