Foreign nationals employed in global financial services firms and other multinational companies in the US have been advised to return to the country before president-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration to prepare for possible immigration policy changes.
Immigration attorneys retained by international banks and firms including Deutsche Bank and global consultancy Bain & Co are recommending that employees who are not US citizens or green card holders should re-enter the US before January 20 if they are travelling during the holiday season, according to internal emails seen by IFR.
The travel advisory was given to people with skilled-worker visas known as H-1Bs and recent graduates on optional practical training, a programme that allows international students to be temporarily employed in the US during their studies.
While the recommendation is short of a blanket travel warning to all foreign workers, lawyers said that individuals from high-risk countries could face a travel ban shortly after inauguration day.
“It could be fairly immediate and very robust … encompassing any country that is perceived as a security concern,” said Carmita Alonso, a New York-based partner at Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy who specialise in immigration.
Alonso cited a travel ban that barred people from seven predominantly Muslim countries including Iran and Syria when Trump first took office in 2017, and cautioned that the list could expand this time.
People from other high-risk countries such as Nigeria, Venezuela and Myanmar could also be subject to entry restrictions under the new administration, according to travel guidelines published by Fragomen this month.
The firm also warned of heightened security screening and delays for people awaiting the issuance of a US visa, as well as stricter scrutiny at the border if they enter after January 20.
“It does not mean advising to stay put in the country and not continuing business as usual,” Alonso said. “That would be extreme caution to advise everyone to remain in the United States.”
Deutsche Bank declined to comment. Bain did not respond to requests for comment.
On top of travel complications, the Trump administration is also expected to make high-skilled immigration and intra-company relocation more difficult and costly. Industries that hire a significant portion of junior foreign nationals, including technology and consulting, will be impacted, according to a research report by Jefferies.
Under the previous Trump administration, processing times at the US Citizenship and Immigration Service went up by 46%, while requests for evidence increased by 66%, the report said.
Refiled story: adds additional coding