Microsoft Asks White House to Set Up Travel Ban Exemptions

As the rest of the world deals with the effect of US President Donald Trump's executive request to restrict immigrants from seven Muslim majority countries, the tech companies have been doing their best to make sense on how the boycott could affect the business.

Today, Microsoft has taken a step by filing a request to give exemptions against Trump's travel ban to certain visa-holding workers, especially Microsoft's own employees, who travel as required by their occupation, as well as the students who are enrolled in the country's universities.

Business Insider stated that Microsoft perceives the proposal will not and should not end the broader civil argument and considerations with respect to last week's official order.

The essence of the company's argument is that as of now the administration has an abundance of information about many individuals in the visa program and that keeping those people from traveling serves practically no purpose.

But even during the debates, there is a chance under the executive order to address the needs of the public. For now, there are decent visa holders who are parents stranded somewhere and separated from their children.

Yahoo Tech reports that Microsoft has proposed the exemption for "Responsible Known Travelers with Pressing Needs," which will permit verified people who travel for work, students, and certain other individuals who have the capacity to travel as required for their job or education.

According to Microsoft, the classification for a responsible known traveler with pressing needs should encompass individuals who hold a valid non-immigrant work visa sponsored by a US company under E-Verify or an F-1 university student visa, as well as non-immigrant visas for the person's immediate family members; individuals who have committed no crime in the US; when leaving the US temporarily, the purpose of their travel must be for either business or for a family emergency, and should be for no longer than two weeks, with immediate family members only permitted to leave for family emergencies; and when leaving the US for business travel, it must not be to any of the seven countries mentioned in the recently signed executive order.