Businesses with employees who travel to the US are being warned that there is a new level of risk attached to trips to the country.
A prominent immigration lawyer has warned that new vetting procedures operated on a localised level that vary from airport to airport are leading to longer processing times, risk of refusal to admit entry and intrusive screening – even for routine business visits.
Employers need to understand that the US is not a uniform legal or cultural environment” – Tim Hayes, Broadfield Law
Tim Hayes, partner and head of immigration at Broadfield Law, acknowledged that most business travellers to the US from the UK would travel without incident, but said visa processes were becoming more politicised after President Donald Trump’s January 2025 executive order that stated that “all aliens” were to be vetted and screened to the “maximum degree possible”.
He added: “Anecdotally, we have been hearing that the experience of travelling to the US can vary significantly depending on the state: New York may feel very different to Florida or Texas. Employers need to understand that the US is not a uniform legal or cultural environment.
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“Employees travelling to the US should carry multiple copies of key documents – passports, ESTA confirmations, proof of accommodation, employment, and the purpose of their visit. Being prepared can prevent unnecessary issues at the border.”
Yesterday, in a further escalation of the hostile rhetoric that visitors to the US are faced with, secretary of state Marco Rubio said the US would start to restrict visas to foreign nationals who are responsible for “censorship of protected expression in the United States”.
Rubio aimed his comments at “foreign officials”, but it was uncertain exactly how he was defining the term. He said: “It is unacceptable for foreign officials to issue or threaten arrest warrants on US citizens or US residents for social media posts on American platforms while physically present on US soil.
“It is similarly unacceptable for foreign officials to demand that American tech platforms adopt global content moderation policies or engage in censorship activity that reaches beyond their authority and into the United States,” he said.
How border officers and immigration authorities will interpret such comments in the field remained unclear, but one media worker who had recently travelled to the US told Personnel Today anonymously that they had deleted all social media platforms and posts, however innocuous, before travelling.
Earlier this week, Rubio suspended further appointments for students seeking visas to the US until the state department drafted new guidelines on enhanced screening of applicants’ social media postings.
Hayes added, with reference to UK business travellers: “The US is no longer the frictionless travel destination it once was. Travel, mobility and insurance policies should be reviewed to address individual risk, legal exposure, and the support available if something goes wrong, as well as to clarify which costs the employer would reimburse if things do go wrong.”
Meanwhile, China has lodged a protest over the US declaration that it will “aggressively” revoke the visas of Chinese students studying at US universities.
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