Because this is an important topic I have created a video and this article which covers the same information. So – watch the video and/or read below – your choice.

I enjoyed watching much of the inauguration day process as I could today. It was awesome to see the return of America, the return of decency and wisdom. We have seen very little of that for the last four years.

I was pleased to see that Trump ran away with his tail between his legs and didn’t spoil the days activities by his presence. Honestly, that was the best decision he has made while he was the President.

Biden and Harris were sworn in at around noon, and had many formalities to go through. Both Biden and Harris have formal roles to fulfil, and the inauguration day is packed full of events to be handled. They have to staff the government, Harris took control of the Senate and swore in three new senators meaning the Democrats control the Whitehouse, the house, and the senate, albeit with razor thin majorities. It will take skill and negotiation to get much needed politics done. But that is the job that Biden is suited for – he knows how to work “across the aisle”.

Now, for my readers, there will obviously be questions about what will happen with the bans. I explained this in a video a couple of days ago shown here:

But what exactly what has Biden done so far, and what does he need to do.

First. He has introduced an immigration reform bill. The bill has many good measures, including a measure that would stop the types of ban that Trump used, AND the increase of DV lottery visas to 80K from the current 55k. Now – don’t rejoice too soon, it is a bill, it needs to be agreed by congress, and there are significant chances that it won’t get agreed in its present form. Even if it did, the new quota would certainly not be in place for DV2021 or DV2022, and probably not DV2023 either, depending on timing. However, it does send a signal that Biden at least does not see DV as a bad thing – he values diversity.

He has revoked the Muslim ban. That ban affected people from the following countries – Burma, Eritrea, Iran, Kyrgzstan, Libya, Nigeria, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania and Yemen. However, DV cases from any of those countries are still blocked by the proclamation PP10014 as extended. The revocation is also NOT retroactive, so if you were previously refused in DV2019 or before based on those bans, you will not be able to reapply. For DV2020 cases, the position is less clear. A case not yet interviewed could theoretically be OK if we get additional cases through. But we will need to get clarification whether a DV2020 cases already refused last year could be “reconsidered”. Part of the problem might be logistics, since time will be short. If you are in that position, let me know and we can discuss that with the lawyers.

As I have previously explained, revoking the Muslim ban is a double edged sword. Because it re-instates the cases for those countries previously affected by the ban, it is bad news for high case numbers in Asia, and to a lesser extent in Africa. That is because thousands of people had little or no hope of being approved before, now have their chance re-instated. But although that will be a blow to some of you, I am sure you will see it is the fair thing.

Now – the next most important thing are the remaining bans – particularly the PP10014. Biden did NOT revoke that ban today. He has not said that he would revoke it, but he has set a timeline of when he will be working on certain topics. He will be working on remaining immigration issues on January 29th, so if he does revoke PP10014, that is the most likely date. He may also address the 14 day regional bans (like the Schengen ban) at that time, but again, there are no published plans. So – we need to remain hopeful but patient. Please don’t be impatient and selfish about that timeline – Biden has a lot of important work to accomplish, so we can give him a few days!!

OK I hope that will explain the questions you could have.