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Category Archives: Department of State

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By Ian Macdonald and on Posted in Department of Homeland Security, Department of State, Visa

Under a new State Department policy, virtually all visa applicants to the United States are now required to submit information about social media accounts they have used in the past five years. Applicants for immigrant and nonimmigrant visas must use the State Department’s Consular Electronic Application Center (CEAC) to complete online forms for nonimmigrant (DS-160)… Continue Reading

By Nataliya Rymer on Posted in Department of State, EB-5, EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, EB-5 Program, Government Shutdown, shutdown, USCIS

As we alerted previously, the U.S. federal government shut down at the end of the day on Dec. 21, 2018. Because the EB-5 regional program was not extended, government agencies such as USCIS and the U.S. State Department will no longer be able to approve adjustment of status (green card) applications and immigrant visas based on… Continue Reading

By Jennifer Hermansky on Posted in Department of State, EB-5, EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, EB-5 Legislation, EB-5 Program, Government Shutdown, I-526, I-829, Immigrant Investor, Immigrant Visa, Immigration, Immigration Law, NOID, RFE, shutdown, USCIS

The U.S. federal government shut down at the end of the day on Dec. 21, 2018, and the president did not sign into law the extension of the EB-5 program passed by the Senate. Until the shutdown ends, and the Regional Center EB-5 program extension is signed into law, no new I-526 petitions can be… Continue Reading

By Greenberg Traurig on Posted in China, Department of State, EB-5, EB-5 Business Plan, EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, EB-5 Investment, I-526, Immigrant Investor, Immigrant Visa, Immigration, Immigration Law, USCIS, Vietnamese

At a recent EB-5 industry forum, Mr. Charles Oppenheim, Chief of the Department of State (DOS) Immigrant Visa Control & Reporting Division, provided key insights on what the latest data suggests regarding the future availability of visas in the EB-5 category. Top EB-5 Visa Users in FY2018: China, Vietnam, and India In terms of EB-5… Continue Reading

By Shaoul Aslan‡ on Posted in Department of State, EB-3, EB-5, Immigration, Visa Bulletin

The Department of State (DOS) December 2018 Visa Bulletin shows some movement in employment-based categories. The EB-1 category will advance three months in all countries, with China and India advancing to Sept. 1, 2016, and all other countries will move forward to July 21, 2016. The EB-2 category remained current for all countries except China, advancing… Continue Reading

By Nataliya Rymer on Posted in China, Department of State, EB-5, EB-5 Legislation, EB-5 Processing Times, EB-5 Program, Green Cards, I-526, Immigrant Green Card, Immigrant Investor, Immigration, Immigration Law, State Department, USCIS, Vietnamese, Visa

This coming October, USCIS is allowing a number of foreign nationals to apply for adjustment of status earlier than they would otherwise be eligible. Specifically, USCIS has announced that it will allow individuals with immigrant petitions in employment-based categories to apply for adjustment of status based on the cutoff dates in the “Dates for Filing” Chart… Continue Reading

By Robert Y. Maples˘ on Posted in Department of State, Immigrant Visa, Uncategorized

The Department of State (DOS) has noticed for public comment an Information Collection Review – Electronic Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration  that would require immigrants coming to the United States to submit five years of social media history. This effort is viewed by many as a component of “enhanced vetting” on behalf of the… Continue Reading

By Kate Kalmykov on Posted in Department of State, EB-5, EB-5 Processing Times, Green Cards, Vietnamese

As you may know, the EB-5 immigrant visa category is expected to retrogress for Vietnam this year.  Below is a guide to frequently asked questions pertaining to the announcement of retrogression. 1. Is there a mechanism by which my child or children may continue to be eligible for immigrant visas as my dependents based on… Continue Reading

By Kate Kalmykov on Posted in Department of State, EB-5, Retrogression, Vietnamese, Visa Bulletin

Each month, the Department of State (DOS) issues a visa bulletin which contains information regarding the availability of immigrant visas. The availability of immigrant visas is subject to numerical caps imposed by Congress, which limit how many foreign nationals may obtain immigrant visas each year. In the employment-based green card category Congress allots 140,000 immigrant… Continue Reading

By Nadia Sowinski* on Posted in Department of State, EB-5, Immigration

The Department of State (DOS) has informed EB-5 stakeholders that retrogression of the EB-5 category in the chargeability area including Vietnam, is imminent; however, DOS is unable to provide specific dates of which priority dates will retrogress at this time, though it did clarify that this is not going to occur in April 2018. As… Continue Reading

By Rebecca Schechter on Posted in Department of State, E-Visa, Travel, Visa

The U.S. Embassy announced it was suspending all nonimmigrant visa services in all U.S. diplomatic posts in Turkey. Turkey responded within a few hours of the U.S. Embassy’s announcement by saying it would no longer issue visas to U.S. citizens, including the physical “sticker” visas at border posts as well as the online Turkish electronic… Continue Reading

By Kristen W. Ng on Posted in Department of Homeland Security, Department of State, Immigrant Visa, President Trump's Administration, USCIS, Visa

On Oct. 8, 2017, the White House released the promised Immigration Principles & Policies (Principles & Policies) which outline the Trump Administration’s position on immigration. This document is broken into three parts: 1) Border Security, 2) Interior Enforcement, and 3) Merit-Based Immigration. A summary of each part is broken down below.

By Kristen W. Ng on Posted in Department of State, Executive Order, Travel

On July 14, 2017, Judge Derrick Watson from the Hawaii District Court expanded the definition of “close familial relationship” to include grandparents, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins. In addition, Judge Watson ruled that for refugees, a bona fide relationship with an entity can include a U.S. resettlement agency that has issued a… Continue Reading

By Cole F. Heyer on Posted in Department of Homeland Security, Department of State, Executive Order, Travel, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

On Monday, June 26, 2017, the Supreme Court of the United States partially revived part of President Trump’s second Executive Order (EO-2)  mandating a temporary travel ban from six Muslim-majority countries for 90 days, which will be in effect on June 29, 2017. EO-2 also sought to suspend the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and limit the… Continue Reading

By Jennifer Hermansky on Posted in Department of State, EB-5, EB-5 Program, Eb-5 Regional Center, I-526, Immigrant Visa, Visa, Visa Bulletin

On Oct. 5, 2016, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) issued an unclassified cable on the Continuing Resolution signed into law on Sept. 29, 2016 that extends several important immigration programs, including the EB-5 Regional Center program. The cable explains that the EB-5 Regional Center program (immigrant visa categories R51 and I51) now is set… Continue Reading

By Nataliya Rymer on Posted in Department of State, EB-5, EB-5 Investment, Immigrant Visa, Visa

许多中国大陆出生的EB-5投资者最近注意到，他们不再能够访问国家签证中心（NVC）的在线平台。 此在线平台的功能包括移民签证费账单的支付，移民签证（DS-260）的申请，以及其他功能。 国家签证中心已确认将使用每月签证公告的申请递件排期表（“表B”）来启动案件处理。10月份的签证排期公告显示，对于中国大陆出生的EB-5投资者，表B当前优先日的截止日期是2014年6月14日或更早。因此，国家签证中心表示不会处理优先日晚于10月签证排期公告中表B截止日期的案件。 这种在处理中国大陆出生的EB-5投资者的移民签证申请上的改变导致许多人无法继续进行在处理方式变更之前开始的DS-260申请，以及无法支付移民签证费用帐单，完成DS-260申请，或从国家签证中心收到确认DS-260申请的所有相关文件已被接收的通知。根据国家签证中心的指示，在今年10月，只有那些优先日期为2014年6月14日或更早的中国大陆出生申请人能够在被国家签证中心通知后继续移民签证处理程序。另外，每个月国家签证中心将通知那些优先日在签证排期表表B截止日期之前的申请人。重要的是，对于以前已经提交给国家签证中心但优先日在排期表表B截止日期之后而不能进行处理的案件，国家签证中心表示将给申请人发出确认收到申请和材料的通知。 此外，国务院证实，正在努力使其在线平台现代化，并指出目标是在2017年春天，建立一个全新的门户网站. 此网站包括所有目前可用的独立的在线功能，如签证费用账单支付，DS-260提交，案件状态查询，以及许多其他功能。

By Nataliya Rymer on Posted in Department of State, EB-5, EB-5 Investment, Immigrant Visa, Visa

Many of the mainland China born EB-5 investors recently noticed that they no longer had access to the National Visa Center (NVC) online platform for the purposes of immigrant visa fee bill payment, access to immigrant visa (DS-260) applications, as well as other functions.  NVC has confirmed that it is using the Dates for Filing… Continue Reading

By Patty Elmas* on Posted in China, Department of State, EB-3, Immigrant Visa, USCIS, Visa, Visa Bulletin

After the release of the October Visa Bulletin, Charlie Oppenheim, Chief of Visa Control and Reporting Division for the U.S. Department of State (DOS), provided his predictions on the future movement in the employment-based green card categories.  They are summarized below: EB-1 China and India In the October bulletin, final action dates for India and… Continue Reading

By Greenberg Traurig on Posted in Department of State, Immigrant Visa, USCIS, Visa, Visa Bulletin

This week, the Department of State released the Visa Bulletin for September 2016. Given that visa numbers are issued based on the government fiscal year, we expect to see significant movement again in October 2016; for September 2016, the last month of FY2016, there were only minor changes with regard to movement of final action… Continue Reading

By Laura Foote Reiff on Posted in Department of State, Visa Bulletin

This week the Department of State released the August Visa Bulletin, which contains some significant movement in certain employment-based categories. In its July Visa Bulletin, which we wrote about here, the Department advised that it would impose cutoff dates for India and China in the EB-1 category.  In the August Bulletin, the Department has imposed… Continue Reading