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On May 22, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released the bi-annual Spring 2019 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions.

As set forth in a Federal Register notice and using the Department of Homeland Security as an example, the Unified Agenda is explained as follows:

This regulatory agenda is a semiannual summary of projected regulations, existing regulations, and completed actions of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its components. This agenda provides the public with information about DHS’s regulatory and deregulatory activity. DHS expects that this information will enable the public to be more aware of, and effectively participate in, the Department’s regulatory and deregulatory activity. DHS invites the public to submit comments on any aspect of this agenda.

As such, these agency submissions are snapshots in time and estimates of pending timelines by the agency, which can change based on many factors.  

Staying with the Department of Homeland Security/USCIS for example purposes, a few rules in final rule stage include, among others:

Find past reporting on the OMB Unified Agenda Here

Please check back as we post additional information on the Spring Unified Agenda and other matters as events and new information warrants.

Today, the Office of Management and Budget via the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs published the Spring Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions . This bi-annual publication informs the public of regulations under consideration or planned by federal agencies.  Agencies are not bound by these postings, but transparency in the rulemaking process is important and, as such, the Unified Agenda is an important regulatory guide.

Continue Reading OMB/OIRA Publishes the Spring 2018 Unified Agenda of Regulatory Actions

On Dec. 14, the Office of Management and Budget Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OMB) published the biennial Unified Agenda.  A long-standing outgrowth of previous regulatory reform efforts, the Unified Agenda offers the public the “current thinking” of federal agencies on upcoming Agency regulatory priorities.

Of importance to the immigration community, DHS USCIS posed the following regulatory priorities-

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is the government agency that oversees lawful immigration to the United States. USCIS’s role is to efficiently adjudicate and manage petitions, applications, and requests for immigration benefits for foreign nationals seeking lawful immigration status in the United States and for individuals seeking to become citizens of the United States, and other matters within the jurisdiction of the agency, in a manner that detects, deters, and prevents fraud, protects the jobs and working conditions of American workers as appropriate, and ensures the national security, public safety, and welfare of the American people. In the coming year, USCIS will promulgate several regulatory and deregulatory actions to directly support these commitments and goals. Continue Reading OMB OIRA Releases Unified Agenda and USCIS Regulatory Priorities, Including H-1B, EB-5, and More

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the Fall Unified Agenda, updating the Improvement of the Employment Creation Immigrant Regulations.  DHS has now moved the stage of rulemaking from “long-term actions” to “proposed rule stage.”  This new release also changes the date of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) from “to be determined” to January 2017.  To read the full text of the release, please view the Spring 2016 update.

In addition, Statement of Need,  Summary of the Legal Basis, and Anticipated Costs and Benefits sections have been added. Of note under “Anticipated Costs and Benefits” is that “the rule would benefit entrepreneurs seeking to participate in the program by providing the opportunity to mitigate the harsh consequences of unexpected changes to business conditions through priority date retention in limited circumstances.”

Greenberg Traurig will continue to monitor this activity and will provide an update as soon as the proposed rules are published.

Global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP opened an office in São Paulo, Brazil, furthering its presence in Latin America – a region it has served since its founding in Miami more than 50 years ago.

The São Paulo office – the 48th location for the firm – will continue providing U.S. law advice to clients seeking to do business in Brazil, as well as Brazilian clients considering expansion in the United States and globally. Greenberg Traurig’s Brazil Practice acts as foreign legal consultants under U.S. law and does not practice Brazilian law, per local regulation.

“Our firm’s growth has always been strategically focused on locations that allow us to best serve our clients, and this office positions the firm to continue helping our clients do business in the largest market in Latin America,” Chief Executive Officer Brian L. Duffy and Executive Chairman Richard A. Rosenbaum said in a joint statement. “Our Brazil Practice team draws on attorneys on the ground in São Paulo and is supported by the full capabilities of our Latin America Practice. Clients today want one unified, global firm that offers one-stop shopping to meet their full range of legal needs.”

Greenberg Traurig’s Brazil Practice supports clients conducting inbound and outbound cross-border transactions, including mergers & acquisitions, real estate, tax, and venture capital or other financing. The firm has advised some of the region’s largest companies, including Navent, an online real estate marketplace in Latin America, in its acquisition by Brazil-based QuintoAndar in a multinational, complex proptech deal. This transaction was awarded the 2022 Private M&A Deal of the Year in Latin America from Latin Lawyer magazine. Global companies such as MasterCard and prominent developers like Related Group have also relied on Greenberg Traurig to guide their expansion efforts in Brazil.

“The Brazil office is not a new venture for us – it is a natural progression of the work that our Latin America Practice has been doing here for decades,” said Yosbel A. Ibarra, co-managing shareholder of the firm’s Miami office, who is leading the firm’s São Paulo expansion with Antonio Peña, co-chair of the firm’s Latin America Practice. “We understand how to do business in Brazil and how to leverage that knowledge to facilitate transactions both in the country and across the globe.”

Greenberg Traurig’s Brazil Practice team draws on the experience of its award-winning Latin America Practice and the wide-ranging resources of its more than 2,750 attorneys around the world to navigate complex regulatory environments. For matters relating to Brazilian law, the firm maintains close relationships with leading local law firms, many of which include alumni of Greenberg Traurig’s International Associate Program, which for more than 30 years has hosted talented lawyers from Latin America to work at the firm before returning to their home countries.

“The opening of our São Paulo office comes in response to an increased demand from our clients and the local firms we work with,” Peña said. “We have been advising clients on deals linked to Latin America for more than five decades, and Brazil is at the core of our strategic growth plans.”

The firm’s Latin America Practice advises clients doing business in Spain, the Caribbean, and across nearly every country in the region, including Mexico, where the firm’s Mexico City office has more than 60 bilingual attorneys working in more than 20 practice areas.

On Jan. 17, The Center for Regulatory Effectiveness (The CRE), a Washington D.C. administrative watchdog group, filed a petition with the Department of Homeland Security to reform the EB-5 program to create jobs in rural America and areas of high unemployment.  In making the announcement, The CRE posted:

Continue Reading Center for Regulatory Effectiveness Petitions DHS for Rulemaking to Reform EB-5

On Nov. 7, 2017, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Immigrant Investor Program Office (IPO) held an EB-5 stakeholder program at their New York City field office. GT attorneys Kate Kalmykov and Kristen Ng attended the in-person session.  During the engagement, key members of the IPO addressed: 1) updates from the IPO; 2) priorities for FY 2018; and 3) stakeholder questions from both the phone and the live audience.  Below is a summary of the engagement:

Continue Reading USCIS Holds EB-5 Stakeholder Engagement in New York City Field Office

On Dec. 20, 2016, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) requested that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) review a proposed rule making that would make changes to the current regulations as it relates to the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program.  The title of this rule is “Improvement of the Employment Creation Immigrant Regulations.”

DHS had previously released the Fall Unified Agenda and updated it in Nov. 2016 reflecting the date of Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to Jan. 2017.  The proposed changes by DHS, as stated in the summary, include measures to promote predictability and transparency in the adjudication process, enhance program integrity, clarify requirements for regional center designation, retain priority dates in certain circumstances, and streamline the adjudication process for petitions.  At a USCIS Stakeholders meeting in April 2016, DHS had stated that the rule making will include changes to minimum investment amount, job creation, targeted employment area requirements, and regional center designation.

Now that the OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) has received the rule making for review, there will be a review period, typically restricted to 90 days, though there is no minimum number of days set.  The period of review can extend beyond 90 days by the rulemaking agency, or by the OMB director.

The OMB can then send the regulations back to USCIS with or without comments.  USCIS will have the opportunity to review any received comments and take administrative action, such as the issuance of notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register.  It is unclear what position the new Administration will take on regulations promulgated in the final days of the previous Administration, although press reports are that the new Administration will “freeze” or even cut regulations rather than allow new ones to advance.  If the NPRM is issued, there will typically be a 60 day notice and comment period.  USCIS will then review and revise the rule accordingly, and can issue a final rule that is published in the Final Register.

Greenberg Traurig will continue to monitor the status of the proposed rule making as it is reviewed by OMB’s OIRA.

As the Sept. 30, 2016, sunset date approaches for the EB-5 Regional Center program, the EB-5 industry has come together with a unified voice calling for the program to be extended with appropriate reforms.  On Sept. 7, 2016, a letter was circulated to the Members of the Judiciary Committees of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives calling for reauthorization of the EB-5 program, signed by the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the EB-5 Investment Coalition, Invest in the USA, and The Real Estate Roundtable.

On Sept. 9, 2016, a draft of an EB-5 bill, titled the “American Job Creation and Investment Promotion Reform Act of 2016,” was circulated to the industry.  On Sept. 12, 2016, the bill, H.R. 5992, was introduced into the second session of the 114th Congress by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, and a markup of H.R. 5992 was scheduled for Sept. 14, 2016.  Given the short amount of time between the bill’s introduction and the scheduled markup, the EB-5 industry joined together again on Sept. 12, 2016, and sent a letter to the Members of the Judiciary Committees of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives with a list of concerns over the contents of the bill.  The markup was canceled on Sept. 13, 2016, with no new date set.

Greenberg Traurig will continue to monitor the activities of H.R. 5992.