Event Coverage
Immigration Policy Certain to Change Under the Biden Administration
At yesterday's SILVAR Global Business Council event, Mountain View immigration attorney Sophie Alcorn informed members about the many roadblocks to immigration created by the Trump administration. She expects many of these obstacles will be eased, if not eliminated once the Biden-Harris administration takes over.
Alcorn related the different paths to obtaining a green card and eventually U.S. citizenship, from procuring a student visa, or any one of a number of employment-based (EB) visas, investment, or marriage to a U.S. citizen. She said the immigration process is complex, but the Trump administration made it even more complicated and stressful for many individuals and families with extreme vetting, travel bans, family separation, difficulties seeking asylum, uncertainty about the status of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), deportations, longer waits and deliberate delays in obtaining visas, with particular animosity toward the H-1B visa, a popular work visa held by many foreign tech workers in Silicon Valley.
Alcorn's office has been busy litigating many such cases and has a 95 percent success rate at federal court. In fact, when the election results were announced, she said her office phones kept ringing. She has had H-1B clients who have moved or are contemplating on selling their home and moving to Canada. She has had cases where U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services failed to renew a spouse's work authorization linked to her H-4 visa status as the spouse of an H-1B visa holder, resulting in the loss of the spouse's source of income.
In the first 100 days of his administration, Alcorn expects Biden to undo many of those executive orders and regulations, including green card and citizenship backlogs, the Muslim ban, family separation and asylum policies, restrictions on dreamers, and more. She expects restrictions will be replaced by new initiatives to promote immigrant entrepreneurship and integrate talents of new immigrants into communities.
"Compassion wins," said Alcorn.
It is important for REALTORS® to know that foreigners can buy property in the U.S. Many do not qualify for a Social Security Number, but they may get an ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) in order to get mortgage approval, said Alcorn.
Alcorn believes foreigners will continue to want to live and work in Silicon Valley. "The secret sauce of Silicon Valley is it has quite an allure." She said foreigners, many who are investors, know there are more production managers here, and founders of companies want to be at the center, close to where the tech stations and start-ups are.
Alcorn is an Immigration & National Law Specialist certified by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. She is the only immigration attorney in Santa Clara County with this designation.
VIEW SOPHIE ALCORN SLIDES ON IMMIGRATION
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