If there is anything a seasoned immigration lawyer is sure of, it is to tread carefully with the L-1B visa petition. The L-1B visa is for intra-company transfers of employees who have been working for the foreign parent, subsidiary, or affiliate branch for at least one year. The transferee must be coming to the US branch office of the company to work in a position that requires “specialized knowledge” (whereas an L-1A is for an executive or manager). What exactly “specialized knowledge” means has been a subject so frequently discussed in immigration case law, US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) memoranda, lawyer forums, conferences, and office water cooler chats, that a person could read for days straight and end up just as confused as they were when they started. After all that, the reader may see no correlation between what they just read and how USCIS currently adjudicates L-1Bs.
Read moreNew York Times: "After Outcry, Britain Bars ‘Pickup Artist’ From Entering"
Julien Blanc, a "pickup artist" who leads dating boot camps around the world and whose advice he claims will "make girls beg to sleep with you," has been denied entry to the United Kingdom, The New York Times reports, becoming "possibly the first man ever denied a visa on grounds of sexism."
Home Secretary Theresa May made the decision to bar Mr. Blanc following international criticism over his dating seminars and a petition, signed by more than 150,000, that stated: “To allow this man into the UK legitimises sexual assault and predation, and sends a message that women are playthings or objects without agency.”
A Home Office spokesman said that the "'home secretary has the power to exclude an individual if she considers that his or her presence in the UK is not conducive to the public good or if their exclusion is justified on public policy grounds[.]'"
Mr. Blanc's methods and advice have been described as sexist and abusive, and earlier this year he was forced to leave Australia after protests and a social media campaign (#TakeDownJulienBlanc) raised awareness about his aggressive, offensive, and misogynistic tactics.
Other figures who have been denied entry to the UK include controversial anti-semitic French comedian Dieudonné M'bala M'bala, anti-Islam American bloggers Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, and far-right Dutch MP Geert Wilders.
As for the US, prominent figures denied visas or entry to the US include Boy George, after being charged with false imprisonment in the UK, singer Cat Stevens, whose plane was diverted to Maine and he was denied entry on "'national security grounds,'" and, until recently, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose visa had been denied after allegations that he stood by or even encouraged religious riots in which over 1000 people, mostly Muslim, were killed. Mr. Modi denied and was eventually cleared of these charges, and now he's up for TIME's Person of the Year, which is unlikely to happen for Mr. Blanc.
India's New Prime Minister Visits the US (After Visa Denial)
India's recently-elected Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, visited the US arriving last week. It was a whirlwind tour featuring appearances at the United Nations, Madison Square Garden, the White House, and an impromptu stop at the Global Citizen Festival in Central Park. He even co-authored (with President Obama) an op-ed for The Washington Post, where they proposed "to find mutually rewarding ways to expand our collaboration in trade, investment and technology that harmonize with India’s ambitious development agenda, while sustaining the United States as the global engine of growth." And perhaps the ultimate sign of welcome, Jon Stewart covered the visit in his own unique style.
But he wasn’t always welcome in the US with such open arms. In 2005, when Mr. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat, he was denied a visa to the US under regulations that denied visas to those who were believed to have committed “particularly severe violations of religious freedom.” (The denial of this diplomatic visa also resulted in his visitor visa being revoked, effectively resulting in a visa ban.) The accusations arose out of claims that Mr. Modi stood by or even encouraged religious riots in which over 1000 people, mostly Muslim, were killed. Mr. Modi denied all wrong doing and was eventually cleared of all charges.
When Mr. Modi was elected as Prime Minister of India, however, he was invited to the US and granted a diplomatic visa. The Obama administration was keen to overlook the visa ban as a decision of the previous administration. During his visit to the US, Mr. Modi even made reference to his past visa difficulties, “saying he understood when fellow Indians complained of problems obtaining a visa.” Given his understanding of the visa process, we hope that he talked to President Obama about how to get more H-1B visas, which are typically used in large percentages by Indian nationals. At any rate, Mr. Modi said: "'My visit has been very successful.'"