What Impact Could Enhanced Visa Vetting Have on Employers?

 Posted on March 10, 2025 in Immigration

The new administration recently signed an executive order that would enhance the screening and vetting of undocumented immigrants. The same executive order also suspends immigrant entries from countries of "particular concern" while re-establishing a baseline for vetting and screening that is consistent with those implemented during the 2016-2020 administration. Not only will these issues impact immigrants, but they will also impact employers of immigrants.

These are very uncertain times for immigrants who may have visas or green cards in the works, those with work visas, DACA recipients, individuals who may be targeted for removal (and their family members), or those who expect to come into the United States under asylum rules. If you have questions regarding your immigration status, it is important to speak to a knowledgeable Lombard immigration attorney.

Enhanced Visa Vetting Procedures Impacting U.S. Employers

Employees who hold traveling work visas are experiencing a much longer processing delay in their visas that is generally related to more extensive background checks. Traveling work visas allow the holders (usually those between the ages of 18 and 30) to travel, live, and work in another country for a specific length of time – generally 12 months.

For citizens of newly banned countries, there is currently disrupted business travel, often preventing them from leaving the United States out of fear of becoming "stranded" outside the country. Citizens of these banned countries are also experiencing difficulty in filing extension of status and change of status petitions. Employees with temporary work visas are also experiencing disrupted business travel.

A temporary work visa usually allows three years for an L-1B (a professional employee with specialized knowledge) visa and seven years for an L-1A (senior manager or executive from a non-US subsidiary from a U.S. company) visa. Non-immigrant work visas like the H-1B (specialty occupations) are temporary and do not lead to permanent residency.  

How Could Other Changes in Immigration Affect American Employers?

There are many more new changes to immigration laws that may adversely affect U.S. employers, including:

• The children of immigrants lawfully in the U.S. on temporary work visas may not be granted citizenship, creating challenges to hiring foreign workers in the future.
• Requiring American businesses to pay higher wages to H-1B workers is expected to make it financially unfeasible for companies and their foreign employees to obtain visas.
• Employers are finding it more difficult to obtain employment visas after the definition of "specialty occupation" was limited. 
• There are much higher denial rates for pending employment-based visa petitions than during the prior administration, along with heightened Requests for Evidence.
• Backlog numbers are being used to trigger the automatic suspension of applications for employment-based green cards.
• Increased worksite inspections and I-9 audits, including immigration raids on employers, will significantly affect farm owners and owners of meat processing plants.

While many of these new rules are being challenged in courts across the nation, there is an overall sense of uncertainty among immigrants and their employers. Jobs that historically implement large numbers of immigrant workers include vegetable harvesting, construction work, food service, and hospitality jobs, and labor for farms and meat processing plants.

It is estimated that about 8.3 million unauthorized immigrants are a part of the nation’s labor force, with the largest numbers in California, Florida, and Texas. A 2020 DOL labor survey found that nearly half of the crop farmworkers interviewed did not have work authorization. Removing these millions of workers could have serious effects on a number of U.S. employers and industries.

Contact a DuPage County, IL Immigration Attorney

If you are an employer who needs guidance or an immigrant who has questions about your status, a Naperville, IL immigration lawyer from Mevorah & Giglio Law Offices can help. Attorney Mevorah has been serving the needs of immigrants throughout Northern Illinois for more than 40 years. Schedule a free consultation by calling 630-932-9100.