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Travel from Europe, East Asia, Canada and Mexico are virtually dead. So how is this presidential order help? What is its practical impact? Is this just political showmanship for the 2020 election?

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It’s not a travel ban, it’s a ban on all immigration like his previous “travel” ban towards select countries. It means people like me who married a non-citizen cannot have their partner live in the US.

I am so sorry for you. I immigrated to the U.S. when I was a boy, but certainly, remember all the challenges of having my parents and a brother still overseas. And this is your spouse. But again, how does this help us fight the pandemic? It doesn't.

The existing travel ban has waivers available for spouses of US citizens, although the process is ridiculous and chaotic, and they are not approving many.

Yeah, ~6% have been given waivers [1] for unknown reasons. There is no official waiver process, and no form for one. They are awarded at the full discretion of USCIS after applying for residency, according to unknown criteria. When I called my embassy about this, they said my only option was to apply and spend years waiting and hope to get lucky.

So I could apply, spend thousands of dollars, wait years, and only have a 1/20 chance of being awarded a waiver.

[0]: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-visas-exc...

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