The long-anticipated expansion of the President’s Proclamation 10014, issued on April 22, 2020 was published on June 22, 2020. It is effective June 24, 2020 at 12:01 AM EDT through December 31, 2020 and may be continued.  The full text of the Proclamation can be found here.

Suspension of visa issuance:

The new proclamation temporarily suspends the issuance of certain nonimmigrant visas and renewals including H-1B, H-4, L-1, H-2A/B, and certain categories of  J-1 (as listed below) through December 31, 2020.  It may be continued or modified as necessary beyond December 31.

The new proclamation bars entry into the U.S. for:

• H-1B and H-2B visa holders and their H-4 dependents who do not have a valid visa stamp
• The specific J visa categories include interns and trainees (commonly used by business), teachers (commonly used by K-12 schools), camp counselors, au pairs, and summer work travel program participants

The new proclamation does not apply to:

• Those visa holders who are already in the U.S.
• J visa holders outside the U.S. in the various student categories (student intern, student bachelor’s, student master’s, student doctorate), short-term scholars, research scholars (which is most often used by Harvard for postdocs and visiting scholars) professors and specialists
• H-1B and H-2B visa holders and their H-4 dependents outside the U.S. who do have a valid visa stamp
• Nothing in the Proclamation applies to F1 visas holders, including F-2 dependents and those on OPT/STEM OPT.

The new proclamation does not limit or otherwise restrict other nonimmigrant visa categories and work authorizations, including F-1 student visas, O-1 extraordinary ability visas, or B visitor visas.

Given the importance of international students and scholars to the life of the University – and to Harvard’s core principles of openness and inclusivity – we also want to update you on the work that has occurred in anticipation of the Executive Order.  In addition to the sustained immigration advocacy of Harvard’s federal relations office and national higher education associations, on June 2 President Bacow wrote to Secretary of State Pompeo and Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Wolf, urging them to advocate within the Administration against any restrictions or reforms to nonimmigrant visas and work authorizations that would threaten the free flow of students and scholars, on which Harvard and American higher education generally depend. That letter can be found here. Please rest assured that these efforts will continue over the coming months.

We are still waiting for additional information regarding waivers of the proclamation and other details.  We will update our website as we learn more.  We continue to strongly recommend that visa holders in the U.S. avoid all non-emergency international travel.  Please reach out to your HIO advisor with any questions.