Presidential Proclamation on UK travel and National Interest Exceptions
#1
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Presidential Proclamation on UK travel and National Interest Exceptions
My employer is currently in the process of trying to secure and L1-B for me. I am based in the UK.
I asked them for a timeline, and after speaking to their legal team they added this line to the email they sent me because of the fact that Im based in the UK.
There's an added complexity to your situation which may resolve itself with the potential UK/US travel ban lift in the near future. With the travel ban in place, even if we were approved for the L1-B or tried to take the H1B route through another country, we still need to show a National Interest Exception in order to complete the process. If or when the ban is lifted, the NIE wouldn't be necessary and would avoid some extra steps and paperwork. We'll monitor this closely. For everyone trying to get here to the States, there is a backlog of cases and applications so we could see some delays as a result. All these minor challenges are certainly not showstoppers once the L1-B is approved. We continue on as planned.
My understanding of the UK//US travel ban, was that it could be easily avoided by traveling to a country that is not part of the ban and staying there for 14 days.
The part about seeking a "National Interest Exception" makes it sound like the ban actually affects the issuing of visas. Can anyone clarify if that is the case?
I asked them for a timeline, and after speaking to their legal team they added this line to the email they sent me because of the fact that Im based in the UK.
There's an added complexity to your situation which may resolve itself with the potential UK/US travel ban lift in the near future. With the travel ban in place, even if we were approved for the L1-B or tried to take the H1B route through another country, we still need to show a National Interest Exception in order to complete the process. If or when the ban is lifted, the NIE wouldn't be necessary and would avoid some extra steps and paperwork. We'll monitor this closely. For everyone trying to get here to the States, there is a backlog of cases and applications so we could see some delays as a result. All these minor challenges are certainly not showstoppers once the L1-B is approved. We continue on as planned.
My understanding of the UK//US travel ban, was that it could be easily avoided by traveling to a country that is not part of the ban and staying there for 14 days.
The part about seeking a "National Interest Exception" makes it sound like the ban actually affects the issuing of visas. Can anyone clarify if that is the case?
#2
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Re: Presidential Proclamation on UK travel and National Interest Exceptions
My employer is currently in the process of trying to secure and L1-B for me. I am based in the UK.
I asked them for a timeline, and after speaking to their legal team they added this line to the email they sent me because of the fact that Im based in the UK.
There's an added complexity to your situation which may resolve itself with the potential UK/US travel ban lift in the near future. With the travel ban in place, even if we were approved for the L1-B or tried to take the H1B route through another country, we still need to show a National Interest Exception in order to complete the process. If or when the ban is lifted, the NIE wouldn't be necessary and would avoid some extra steps and paperwork. We'll monitor this closely. For everyone trying to get here to the States, there is a backlog of cases and applications so we could see some delays as a result. All these minor challenges are certainly not showstoppers once the L1-B is approved. We continue on as planned.
My understanding of the UK//US travel ban, was that it could be easily avoided by traveling to a country that is not part of the ban and staying there for 14 days.
The part about seeking a "National Interest Exception" makes it sound like the ban actually affects the issuing of visas. Can anyone clarify if that is the case?
I asked them for a timeline, and after speaking to their legal team they added this line to the email they sent me because of the fact that Im based in the UK.
There's an added complexity to your situation which may resolve itself with the potential UK/US travel ban lift in the near future. With the travel ban in place, even if we were approved for the L1-B or tried to take the H1B route through another country, we still need to show a National Interest Exception in order to complete the process. If or when the ban is lifted, the NIE wouldn't be necessary and would avoid some extra steps and paperwork. We'll monitor this closely. For everyone trying to get here to the States, there is a backlog of cases and applications so we could see some delays as a result. All these minor challenges are certainly not showstoppers once the L1-B is approved. We continue on as planned.
My understanding of the UK//US travel ban, was that it could be easily avoided by traveling to a country that is not part of the ban and staying there for 14 days.
The part about seeking a "National Interest Exception" makes it sound like the ban actually affects the issuing of visas. Can anyone clarify if that is the case?
#3
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Re: Presidential Proclamation on UK travel and National Interest Exceptions
The main issue is the massive backlog of non-immigrant visas at consulates around the world. Even if approved it could take 12 months to find an appointment before you could do 14 days in 3rd country route.
#4
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Re: Presidential Proclamation on UK travel and National Interest Exceptions
Hold on, are we really talking about 12 months of delays? Or would it be less than that if I have travel ban is lifted and we do the process here in the UK?
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Re: Presidential Proclamation on UK travel and National Interest Exceptions
#6
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Re: Presidential Proclamation on UK travel and National Interest Exceptions
But once the ban is lifted there would be no need for an NIE, correct?
What part of the process is the "12 months delay" referring to? Is this something related to the 14 day travel ban? If so, would getting a visa in a 3rd country with no travel ban not solve this?
What part of the process is the "12 months delay" referring to? Is this something related to the 14 day travel ban? If so, would getting a visa in a 3rd country with no travel ban not solve this?
#7
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Re: Presidential Proclamation on UK travel and National Interest Exceptions
There's a massive backlog of visa processing everywhere, so no one knows how long that will take. But it will be a significant length of time for sure.
#8
Re: Presidential Proclamation on UK travel and National Interest Exceptions
If you don't get an NIE yourself, 12 months seems reasonable. It could also be longer than that. No one really knows.
#9
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Re: Presidential Proclamation on UK travel and National Interest Exceptions
Ah ok I think I understand now. So basically if the travel ban was lifted, then I would be behind everyone who has already applied but does not have an NIE.
It sounds like the only way to get this processed quickly would be to get an NIE while the travel ban is in place?
It sounds like the only way to get this processed quickly would be to get an NIE while the travel ban is in place?
#11
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Re: Presidential Proclamation on UK travel and National Interest Exceptions
The focus seems to be on immigrant visas and for some reason student visa's, Mission Priority, so everything else is super backed up.
#12
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Re: Presidential Proclamation on UK travel and National Interest Exceptions
My guess is that the US University lobby has successfully argued that they would lose huge $$$ without any new international students arriving. The same could be said of work visas too, but there's no single group that argues for that in the same way (except maybe Big Tech?)
#13
Re: Presidential Proclamation on UK travel and National Interest Exceptions
Ah ok I think I understand now. So basically if the travel ban was lifted, then I would be behind everyone who has already applied but does not have an NIE.
It sounds like the only way to get this processed quickly would be to get an NIE while the travel ban is in place?
It sounds like the only way to get this processed quickly would be to get an NIE while the travel ban is in place?
My guess is that the US University lobby has successfully argued that they would lose huge $$$ without any new international students arriving. The same could be said of work visas too, but there's no single group that argues for that in the same way (except maybe Big Tech?)
#14
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Re: Presidential Proclamation on UK travel and National Interest Exceptions
- Does the company having Blanket L1 approval make any different to this process or is that the same?
- Also assuming I won the H1-B lottery would that be quicker? (They did apply for me)
#15
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Re: Presidential Proclamation on UK travel and National Interest Exceptions
Unfortunately, no and no. The blanket makes no difference in this case and H1-B is the same, you'll still need an appointment at a consulate.