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Category Archives: I-526

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By Jia Zhao on Posted in EB-5, I-526, Immigrant Investor, Immigrant Visa, Immigration, U.S. State Department, Uncategorized, USCIS

It is widely known that India has become a major EB-5 investor market in recent years, as EB-5 is becoming an increasingly popular option for Indian nationals who seek permanent residence in the United States; the fact that there has been a growing number of high-net-worth individuals in India clearly helps to stimulate this demand…. Continue Reading

By Jennifer Hermansky on Posted in EB-5, EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, Eb-5 Regional Center, I-526, Immigrant Investor, USCIS

As an update to our blog on Dec. 24, USCIS has since clarified that while the EB-5 Regional Center Program expired at the end of the day on Dec. 21, 2018, due to a lapse in congressional authorization to continue the program, USCIS will continue to receive regional center-affiliated Forms I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien… 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 Bruce C. Rosetto and on Posted in EB-5, EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, EB-5 Investment, EB-5 Legislation, EB-5 Program, GT Alert, I-526, Immigrant Investor, Immigrant Visa, Immigration, Immigration Law, USCIS, Visa

In the matter of Huashan Zhang, et al. v. United States Citizenship and Immigration Service, et al. (United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Nov. 30, 2018), plaintiffs challenged the decisions of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) to deny their EB-5 immigrant investor visa petitions based upon USCIS’ erroneous interpretation… 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 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 Jennifer Hermansky on Posted in EB-5, EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, I-526, Immigrant Investor, Immigrant Visa, Immigration, Immigration Law, President Trump's Administration, USCIS

EB-5 investors should maintain their eligibility for conditional permanent resident status, especially during any period of visa backlog occurring in between the time of I-526 Petition approval and when the investor’s priority date becomes current. This is the second post in a series that discusses how EB-5 investors and their dependents can maintain eligibility for… Continue Reading

By Jennifer Hermansky on Posted in EB-5, EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, EB-5 Legislation, EB-5 Program, Eb-5 Regional Center, I-526, Immigration, Immigration Law, USCIS

On Aug. 24, 2018, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) made a significant update to its Policy Manual, Part G: Immigrant Investors. In its Policy Alert, USCIS outlined the changes to the Policy Manual. Notable among the updates was the following: Policy Highlight 5 Explains that USCIS considers a change in regional center affiliation a… Continue Reading

By Kristen W. Ng on Posted in I-526, I-924, Immigrant Investor, USCIS

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… Continue Reading

By Sylvia Sobczyk on Posted in EB-5, EB-5 Program, I-526, Immigrant Investor, USCIS, Visa

USCIS recently announced the release of a new edition of Form I-526, with the new edition dated 04/10/2017. Starting on June 9, 2017, USCIS will only accept the 04/10/2017 edition.  Until then, investors can use the 12/23/2016 edition. Both editions of Form I-526 are available to download at no cost on the USCIS website. Investors… Continue Reading

By Dillon Colucci on Posted in EB-5 Program, I-526, I-924, Immigrant Investor, Immigration, Regional Center, USCIS

The Immigrant Investor Program office (IPO) has decided to hold in abeyance I-526 Petitions until the adjudication of an associated Exemplar I-924 Petition, even when an associated I-526 Petition is past posted processing times. This has had a particularly detrimental effect on I-526 Petitions filed prior to Sept. 30, 2015, when there was a surge… Continue Reading

By Greenberg Traurig on Posted in EB-5, EB-5 Program, Eb-5 Regional Center, I-526, I-829, I-924, USCIS

On March 3, 2017, the USCIS Immigrant Investor Program Office (IPO) held an EB-5 Stakeholder Engagement in which several important updates to the program were provided. “Unofficial” Statistics for Fiscal Year 2017 From October to December 2016, USCIS saw a surge in petition filings, likely due to an upcoming sunset in the EB-5 regional center… Continue Reading

By Greenberg Traurig on Posted in Department of Homeland Security, EB-5, EB-5 Program, Eb-5 Regional Center, I-526, I-829, I-924, Posts in Chinese

在今年5月4日，美国国土安全部在联邦公报(Federal Register)上公布了拟定的新收费提案，征求公众意见。请查看我们之前的博客。该拟定的新收费提案于今年10月24日作为最终案通过，并将在本月(12月)晚些时候正式生效。 从今年12月23日起，递交给美国移民局的多项移民申请，非移民申请，身份调整申请和入籍申请的费用都会上涨。一些常见申请费上调项目请参见下表： 移民局的申请费用将平均上涨21％。然而，从上表可以看出，EB-5类别相关的申请费用上调最高，I-526和I-924的升幅都超过100％，并且推出了新的3,035美元的I-924A表格的申请费用。 EB-5区域中心需要每年提交一份I-924A表格（今年，2016年12月29日），或根据要求证明其继续资格指定，以前没有与此申报相关的费用。 美国移民局自2010年11月以来没有调整过申请费用表。由于移民局的运转的资金完全来源于申请费用，移民局强调费用上调是必要的，以用来支付日益增加的财政开支和人力成本，包括案件审核，欺诈检测，国家安全和客户服务相关的成本。我们希望，随着这些改进也将加快移民局的案件审理时间。 我们建议申请人提前将所有即将提交的文件提交给美国移民局;所有申请必须在2016年12月21日之前寄出，因为2016年12月22日是USCIS接受当前申请费的最后日期。自2016年12月23日起，移民局将拒绝那些没有提供上调后的申请费的申请。

By Greenberg Traurig on Posted in Department of Homeland Security, EB-5, EB-5 Program, Eb-5 Regional Center, I-526, I-829, I-924, Immigration, USCIS

On May 4, 2016, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register inviting public comment on a proposed increase in the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Fee Schedule, which we previously wrote about. This proposed rule was subsequently adopted as final on Oct. 24, 2016, and… 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 Jennifer Hermansky on Posted in EB-5, I-526, I-829, USCIS

USCIS has released its third quarter performance data for the fiscal year 2016 (October through September), including performance data on I-526 Petitions and I-829 Petitions.  USCIS reports generally provide summary data on the number of applications or petitions received, approved, denied and pending. For the third quarter of 2016 (April through June), USCIS approved 1,660… Continue Reading

By Kristen W. Ng on Posted in EB-5, Government Accountability Office (GAO), I-526

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently reviewed a sampling of unadjudicated I-526 petitions from the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2015 to obtain information on: 1) the ratio between investors who invested in Targeted Employment Areas (TEA) or non-TEA designated projects; 2) the geographic locations in which the projects were located; and 3) the capital stack… Continue Reading

By Laura Foote Reiff on Posted in EB-5 Program, I-526, I-829, I-924, Regional Center, USCIS

At its July 28, 2016 stakeholder engagement, USCIS Immigrant Investor Program Office (IPO) Chief Nicholas Colucci focused his opening remarks on USCIS’s efforts to enhance the IPO’s adjudication capabilities, the office’s commitment to conducting program oversight and promoting program integrity, and the role of the designated regional center in maintaining program integrity. Before delving into a… Continue Reading

By Kristen W. Ng on Posted in Department of Homeland Security, I-526

On July 11, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) issued a notice of proposed revision of a currently approved collection of information as it relates to Form I-526.  Comments will be accepted for 60 days, until September 9, 2016.  In particular, written comments and suggestions should address the following points: Evaluate whether the information collected… Continue Reading

By Laura Foote Reiff and on Posted in I-526, I-829, Uncategorized, USCIS

Today USCIS released performance data on I-526 and I-829 petitions.  The data provides an overview across several segments for case status (received/approved/denied/pending) for FY 2008 through FY 2015.  Data for FY 2015 is broken down by quarter. The chart below summarizes USCIS statistics on I-526 filings: Comparing this data to similar information in 2013 is… Continue Reading

By Laura Foote Reiff and on Posted in I-526, I-829, I-924, USCIS

On August 31, 2015, USCIS released updated processing times for EB-5 related petitions.  The following chart provides the average processing times for cases being adjudicated by the Immigrant Investor Program Office (IPO) as of June 30, 2015: FORM Processing Timeframe as of June 30, 2015 I-526 13.5 months I-829 14.3 months I-924 11.8 months  … Continue Reading