We previously reported on the disturbing Request for Evidence (RFE) trend where investors and their attorneys were not receiving RFEs in the mail even though the case status showed that one was issued. We are now reporting on another trend, this time in the substance of the RFEs and the results from submitting responses, specifically… Continue Reading
Category Archives: I-526
Subscribe to I-526 RSS FeedUSCIS Holds EB-5 Stakeholder Engagement in New York City Field Office
Posted in I-526, I-924, Immigrant Investor, USCISOn 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
I-526 TREND: Delays in Receiving Requests for Evidence
Posted in I-526, Immigrant Investor, USCISInvestors and their attorneys alike have taken note of a disturbing trend recently: when USCIS issues a Request for Evidence (RFE), it is oftentimes not received by either party. Typically, RFEs are mailed in hard copy, and a copy is mailed to the Investor, and a second copy is mailed to the attorney of record. … Continue Reading
USCIS Releases New Edition of Form I-526 with New Changes and Information Requested From Investors
Posted in EB-5, EB-5 Program, I-526, Immigrant Investor, USCIS, VisaUSCIS 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
Immigrant Investor Program Office Unofficial I-526 Petition Processing Policy
Posted in EB-5 Program, I-526, I-924, Immigrant Investor, Immigration, Regional Center, USCISThe 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
Recap of the March 3, 2017 EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program Stakeholder Engagement
Posted in EB-5, EB-5 Program, Eb-5 Regional Center, I-526, I-829, I-924, USCISOn 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
通知：美国移民局多项案件申请费用将于2016年12月23日正式上涨
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。
Reminder: Many USCIS Filing Fees Will Increase on December 23, 2016
Posted in Department of Homeland Security, EB-5, EB-5 Program, Eb-5 Regional Center, I-526, I-829, I-924, Immigration, USCISOn 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
State Department Issues Cable on Extension of EB-5 Program and Issuance of Immigrant Visas
Posted in Department of State, EB-5, EB-5 Program, Eb-5 Regional Center, I-526, Immigrant Visa, Visa, Visa BulletinOn 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
USCIS Releases New EB-5 Petition Performance Data
Posted in EB-5, I-526, I-829, USCISUSCIS 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
Summary of GAO report – Immigrant Investor Program: Proposed Project Investments in Targeted Employment Areas
Posted in EB-5, Government Accountability Office (GAO), I-526The 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
USCIS Reports on Agency Enhancements, Emphasizes Importance of Regional Center Oversight at July 28 Public Engagement
Posted in EB-5 Program, I-526, I-829, I-924, Regional Center, USCISAt 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
Notice of Proposed Revision of a Currently Approved Collection of Information- Form I-526
Posted in Department of Homeland Security, I-526On 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
USCIS Performance Data Released for I-526 and I-829 Petitions
Posted in I-526, I-829, Uncategorized, USCISToday 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
Summer Update: USCIS Processing Time for I-526, I-829, and I-924 Petitions
Posted in I-526, I-829, I-924, USCISOn 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
Recap of the USCIS Lawful Source of Funds Public Engagement Feb. 26, 2015
Posted in EB-5 Investment, I-526, USCIS, USCIS Public EngagementUSCIS held an informative session on Feb. 26, 2015 which went over common issues in a lawful source of funds analysis. Speaking from USCIS were three adjudication officers, two supervisors and Karen Harris, a division chief. USCIS stated its continued goal is to reduce I-526 petition processing times by streamlining adjudication. To this end, the… Continue Reading
排期倒退、优先日期与I-526申请标准通知书
Posted in EB-5 Program, I-526, Immigrant Investor, Immigrant Visa, Retrogression, USCISFollowing is the Chinese translation of a previously published blog post: 鉴于EB-5签证排期倒退迫近，现在就优先日期以及I-526申请批准书上涉及的有关内容做些基本介绍，正是一个合适的时机。美国联邦法律规定，每个财政年度EB-5签证的可用额度上限为10，000 名额. EB-5投资人提交I-526申请后，其I-526申请被美国移民局（USCIS）接收的日期，视为EB-5投资人的“优先日期”。排期倒退是指，签证额度达到上限后，美国国务院（DOS）必须根据过去的优先日期，给签证申请人划定一个截止日期，从而产生的时间滞期。打个形象的比方，EB-5签证好比是排队，EB-5投资人的优先日期就是其在长队中的位置。
USCIS Releases Performance Data on I-526 and I-829 Petitions
Posted in EB-5 Program, I-526, I-829, USCISOn Feb. 18, 2015, USCIS released performance statistics on I-526 and I-829 EB-5 related petitions. The following charts provide the case status as broken down by petitions received, approved, denied, or pending from fiscal year 2008 through the first quarter of fiscal year 2015 (October through December 2014): USCIS statistics on I-526 EB-5 petitions for… Continue Reading
USCIS EB-5 Processing Times Increase
Posted in EB-5 Program, I-526, I-829, I-924, Immigrant Investor, Uncategorized, USCISUSCIS updated its processing times for the Immigrant Investor Program Office on Feb. 11, 2015. Unfortunately, the news is not welcome. Processing times ticked up slightly to 14 months for I-526 Petitions, 11.4 months for I-829 Petitions and 11.1 months for I-924 Applications. The I-924 Application processing time has risen a full seven months from a low… Continue Reading
Retrogression, Priority Dates and I-526 Petition Approval Notices
Posted in EB-5 Program, I-526, Immigrant Investor, Immigrant Visa, Retrogression, USCISWith retrogression looming, it is a good time for a quick primer on priority dates and the information contained on an I-526 petition approval. U.S. federal law caps the number of EB-5 visas that are available each fiscal year at 10,000. When an EB-5 investor files an I-526 Petition, the day his or her I-526… Continue Reading
Holiday Update on USCIS Processing Time for I-526, I-829, and I-924 Petitions
Posted in I-526, USCISEarlier this month, 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 October 31, 2014: Form Processing Timeframe as of December 11, 2014 I-526 14.7 months I-829 8.6 months I-924 9 months Based… Continue Reading
Retrogression for EB-5 Predicted at IIUSA Conference; July 2013 Cut-Off Discussed
Posted in EB-5 Program, I-526, Immigrant VisaThe Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division of the U.S. Department of State, Charles Oppenheim, reported that the EB-5 immigrant visa category would likely retrogress in July 2015. However, this does contradict his prediction provided to AILA earlier last week of retrogression occurring in May 2015. What is striking about Oppenheim’s announcement was that… Continue Reading
Charles Oppenheim Issues Retrogression Alert for EB-5
Posted in EB-5 Program, I-526, Immigrant VisaAs part of an ongoing series of monthly updates provided to the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division of the U.S. Department of State, Charles Oppenheim, reported that the EB-5 immigrant visa category could retrogress as early as May 2015. It appears retrogression of the EB-5 immigrant visa… Continue Reading
National Visa Center Announces Fee Changes for Immigrant Visa Processing
Posted in I-526, Immigrant VisaEffective September 12, 2014, the Department of State has decreased the Immigrant Visa Application Processing fees to $345 based on an approved I-526 petition. Therefore, applicants who received a fee invoice prior to September 12, 2014, will be eligible to pay the listed fee on the fee bill invoice.