Immigration attorney Sophie Alcorn is sharing this advice with her high-tech clientele: Get back to the US before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

The new year brings Trump's return to Washington, and with it, immigration lawyers like Alcorn say they're fielding nonstop calls from tech worker clients to discuss policy changes that may take place under the second Trump administration. Alcorn said she's helping clients file petitions and extensions under current policies and is telling those with valid visas to consider returning to the country from temporary travel overseas before Trump takes office out of an abundance of caution.

Trump swept to victory on promises to deport millions of immigrants in the country illegally, but he's offered few hints into how he will shape a legal immigration system that pipes highly educated foreign workers into tech jobs.

During his first term, Trump signed a series of executive orders that limited access to many work visa types, impacting an important source of technical talent, according to conversations with four immigration attorneys.

They expect Trump to run some of those plays again. "A storm is coming," said Jason Finkelman of Finkelman Law, "and this time, we know exactly what it's going to bring."

A travel ban 2.0 could limit access for the tech talent pool

In the first week of his first term, Trump signed an executive order restricting travel from seven countries with large Muslim populations, virtually blocking immigration from those nations. It also prevented professionals from traveling out of the country for work or personal reasons because they feared they would be unable to return.

In a September speech prior to the election, Trump said he would reinstate his "famous travel ban" and expand it to prevent refugees from Gaza from entering the country.

The last travel ban sparked outcries from tech firms that rely on foreigners with special expertise to fill their ranks and help shape their technologies. Hundreds of executives and employees such as Sam Altman and Sergey Brin converged on San Francisco International Airport in protest, while Box CEO Aaron Levie and the founders of Lyft pledged their support to the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the order.

The travel ban faced a series of challenges in the lower courts and didn't take full effect until the Supreme Court upheld the order more than a year after Trump signed it.

"I think its possible that Trump may attempt to impose travel bans from certain countries just as he did when he initially tried to implement travel restrictions," said Jason Finkelman, who's based in Austin. "While I think travel bans will likely face challenges in the courts it may lead to issues of US employers being restricted from hiring and retaining the foreign talent they need for their operations."

Elizabeth Goss, who runs her own law practice in Boston, and Justin Parsons, a partner at Erickson Immigration Group's office in Arlington, Virginia, said they believed a travel ban 2.0 would affect different countries this time around, based on this administration's priorities.

"The wildcard for me," said Parsons, "is what happens to China." The president-elect has vowed to enact higher tariffs on Chinese goods, in an effort to hobble the world's second-largest economy. Parsons has asked himself if Trump would ban travel from China to further these efforts.

Trump could decrease access to a commonly used visa type by tech companies

The tech sector is the biggest beneficiary of the H-1B visa, which allows employers to fill specialty roles with highly educated foreign workers. Last year, more than half of these visas went to workers in computer-related roles, according to data from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services.

During Trump's first term, government data shows that denial rates for new employees and requests for further evidence of eligibility surged. In 2020, the Trump administration temporarily paused the issuance of new green cards and many work visa types, arguing that this would protect American jobs during a pandemic decline in employment.

The Biden administration has moved to reverse some of these policies and facilitate the processing of work-related visas. In December, the White House published new regulations that allow the immigration agency to process applications more quickly for most individuals who had previously been approved for an H-1B visa.

Jason Finkelman said the new rules "give predictability to employers and foreign nationals on the extensions of their visa petitions when there has been no change in the job duties or the employer." He added that it's plausible Trump can withdraw the regulations once he takes office, however.

Elizabeth Goss offered a more optimistic outlook. She suggested that if Elon Musk has Trump's ear, he might be able to persuade the president to leave the program untouched or even expand the number of visas issued, though such a move hasn't been made since President Bill Clinton raised the limit at the top of the dot-com bubble.

Canadians could be turned away

Historically, Canadians have had access to temporary work visa types, the L-1 and the TN, which allowed them to move across the border with less friction. However, according to Justin Parsons, they could face new headwinds under Trump.

Tech companies like Google, Microsoft, and Apple have relied heavily on the L-1 visa to transfer an executive or manager from one of their foreign offices to one of their domestic offices. Canadians have been able to apply for this visa at an international airport or border station without having to file a petition with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, a far more cumbersome process.

In 2017, under the Trump administration, some border agents began refusing to process or renew work visas for Canadians already working in the country, Parsons said. The border agents would challenge their eligibility over what Parsons described as arbitrary reasons, or direct them to the immigration agency. This delayed workers who were traveling home from returning.

At the time, Parsons also observed Canadian clients on the TN visa — a temporary work visa for Canadians and Mexicans created under the North American Free Trade Agreement — come under increased scrutiny at the border.

Parsons expressed concern for Canadians that the probing measures might be reintroduced and potentially intensified under Trump's second term.

• Joel Balsam grew up in Ottawa, Ontario, and dreamed of traveling the world from a young age.
• As a travel writer, the 34-year-old has spent most of the past decade abroad.
• Balsam realized during the pandemic he didn't want to be based in Canada and found a home in Brazil.

At about this time last year, I found myself on a two-week trek in the Himalayas, burned out. I wanted to scream into the snowy mountains, "Will I ever find a place where I belong?"

I grew up in the suburbs of Ottawa, Ontario, nicknamed "The City That Fun Forgot." I've always wanted to see what was out there beyond my quiet backyard.

After studying political science and journalism at university in Montreal, I spent four months backpacking in South America. The last country I visited on the trip, Brazil, blew my mind. Locals in Rio de Janeiro, where I celebrated Carnaval in 2013, said I was just like a "carioca" — what locals call themselves.

I was amazed by their passion for their music, dancing, and culture — a sense of pride they call "Brasilidade." I'd never experienced anything like that in Canada.

Looking for somewhere else like Rio

Vowing to return, I went back to Canada and worked at a weekly newspaper, but the call to travel came again.

In 2015, I spent a year teaching English in Madrid and traveled across Europe, India, and Southeast Asia. To make extra money and continue my writing career, I wrote trending news articles for a Montreal-based website that allowed me to work remotely.

After basing myself in Medellín, Colombia, and Oaxaca, Mexico, for a few months each, I returned to Rio in 2018, hoping to feel that spark again. But the energy wasn't as I'd remembered. There had just been a divisive presidential election won by Jair Bolsonaro. I continued traveling.

I went on a four-month road trip across the Southern United States with my girlfriend at the time, a photographer. We teamed up to do stories for top international publications like Time, The Guardian, and National Geographic. We traveled to Morocco and Armenia so I could write guidebooks for Lonely Planet. I felt as if I was living my dream life. Then the pandemic hit.

Unsure of when international travel might return, my partner and I decided to buy an apartment in Montreal.

While I love Montreal, I struggled mentally during the pandemic curfews and the long Canadian winters. In 2022, my partner and I broke up, and I felt the urge to find somewhere to call home.

Lit up again in Brazil

Last year, I traveled to 17 countries for work and to search for a place to live. Everywhere I went, I asked people why they chose to live where they did.

By November, I felt burned out from my search, which culminated in that mountain meltdown in Nepal. To see whether I could find belonging with other wandering souls, I took a cruise with digital nomads from Spain to Brazil.

I don't think there's anything wrong with traveling full time, but I found myself butting heads with other passengers who seemed to want to live exactly as they did back home, just more cheaply and in better weather.

When the cruise landed in Salvador, roughly 930 miles north of Rio, most cruisers carried on traveling, but I didn't want to leave.

The palm trees, the way locals told stories, the nuances of the country's culture — everything lit me up about Brazil as it had during my first visit. I felt the energy had relaxed since Lula was reelected president in 2022.

I traveled to the island Parintins in the Amazon for a Brazilian festival, Boi-Bumbá. As thousands sang and danced in performances that told Indigenous and Afro-Brazilian stories, I realized that in the 60 countries I'd been to, there's nothing like Brasilidade.

When I got to Rio, my urge to travel dissipated. I find life here perfectly balances health and fun. People of all ages love to party, and there isn't the pressure to stop after your 20s. I think Rio is the most beautiful natural city I've ever seen. There aren't long periods of social hibernation, as it never gets cold.

Career-wise, I feel there are so many stories to write in Brazil. The city hosts international events like the G20, which was here last week. I know I'll always be a gringo, but I feel welcomed.

The city has its downsides. There are high crime rates in Rio, though I've never been robbed. And I do find the international cuisine options lacking. Other than that, I think Rio has it all.

Logistics of moving to Rio

US and Canadian passport holders can stay in Brazil for 90 days with the option of extending for a total of 180 days in a year. There are various visas to stay longer, including a digital-nomad visa that permits remote working in Brazil for a year.

I am on a one-year student visa as I improve my Portuguese and will look into a journalist visa afterward.

While Rio, especially in the beachy Zona Sul, is more expensive than most of Brazil, I find it very affordable compared with other places I've been.

For instance, I pay $500 a month to rent a one-bedroom apartment in the hilltop neighborhood of Santa Teresa, which I found through a friend of a friend. Other places are much more costly though, especially short-term rentals by the beach. Otherwise, I find Rio to be affordable on my salary. A hardy Brazilian lunch with rice, beans, and meat for under $5 and beers that cost only a couple of bucks fit my budget.

As for whether this choice to stay is permanent, right now it is. I'll still travel, but I'm looking forward to shorter trips and having this incredible city to return to.