As of March 11th, President Trump issued Proclamation 9993 as part of measures to contain the pandemic, imposing extensive travel restrictions on members of the Schengen Area countries. This affects all visitors who have been present in any of these countries within the 14 days prior to their planned entry into the United States, including travelers with ESTA and B1 business traveler visas. However, companies directly affected by these restrictions, but needing to fulfill important customer orders in the USA, have the possibility to obtain the necessary visas for their personnel through a waiver called the National Interest Exception (NIE). In addition to the regular visa application for a B1 business traveler visa, the NIE requires the following essential conditions:

• There must be a contractual agreement obligating the foreign company (DACH) to carry out or organize the mentioned work in the USA.
• The U.S. customer must face significant financial losses if the employees are not allowed to come.
• The employee must be able to demonstrate a high motivation to return to their respective home country after completing the work.

The processing time at consulates typically takes less than 48 hours. Additionally, essential industries (Healthcare, Transportation, Food & Beverage, etc.) are also eligible for the NIE.

The NIE is also good news for E2 visa applicants. Despite visa processing being largely suspended since the beginning of the pandemic, the U.S. Department of State clarified that investors, senior employees, and specialists (known as key personnel) can enter on the E visa.
There is also an update for H and L visas. While these visa categories were not issued since mid-April due to Proclamations 10014 and 10052, a federal court ruled in mid-October that these proclamations were unlawful. However, the decision did not completely remove the blockage, but it does offer individual companies new ways to obtain the desired visa.

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