The Department of State’s (DOS) July Visa Bulletin brings some good news for China indicating that that the EB-5 immigrant visa category will advance by four months for China, from May 1, 2013 to September 1, 2013.

This development has come as a bit of a surprise to those of you who follow Charles (“Charlie”) Oppenheimer’s, chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division at the DOS, predictions for employment-based cut-off numbers, who predicted that the EB-5 cut-off date imposed for May 1, 2013, would remain for June.

In light of this modest movement in the retrogression date, mainland-Chinese born EB-5 investors should continue to file I-526 Petitions as soon as possible because these developments have no effect on the adjudication of I-526 Petitions. DOS has created a waiting list based on the priority date, or the date an I-526 Petition is filed, which you can read more about on our EB-5 Insights blog here.
Continue Reading July 2015 Visa Bulletin: Cutoff Date for EB-5 Retrogression Moves Forward to September 1, 2013

自2015年4月22日起,由于受排期的影响,国家签证中心和广州领事馆开始取消已经预约的移民签证面试。这大大区别于以往的做法。在过去如果获得了预约面试就会被分配一个移民签证号,因此便不会受排期的影响。近期获得移民签证预约面试的申请人应该及时联系律师和法律代表,以证实预约的面试是否被取消。

收到了面试取消通知的申请人会受到排期的影响。如果预约面试被取消,那么申请人需要每个月到此网站website查看签证公告来确认他们的优先日是否有效。一旦优先日生效,他们可重新申请EB-5移民签证。请点击此处here查看优先日。此外,国务院网站有一个优先日查询“Priority Date Checker”专栏,只要输入信息就可以自动查询相应的截止日期。详细英文信息点击此住here。 详细中文信息点击此处here

对于那些没有子女超龄风险的申请人,取消已预约的签证面试并不会对副申请人产生负面影响。任何已经递交DS-260,或者已经支付签证费的副申请人会受到《儿童状态保护法案》的保护。详情请参见签证办公室公布的信息清单information

此外,我们开始收到EB-5社区发来的通知。通知上说国家签证中心的预约面试通知并未及时寄出,因此导致一些申请人错过了面试。由于国家签证中心在过去九个月中工作并非十分高效,发生这种情况并不奇怪。请到我们的博客了解最新消息。
Continue Reading EB-5签证排期重磅消息:广州领事馆取消已预约的移民签证面试

Effective today, April 22, 2015, the National Visa Center (NVC) in concert with the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou has begun issuing cancellation notices to individuals with scheduled immigrant visa interviews due to retrogression. This is a departure from the prior practice whereby individuals with scheduled immigrant visa interviews would have already been allocated an immigrant visa number, thus not subjecting them to retrogression. Individuals with recently scheduled immigrant visa interviews should check with their attorneys or legal representatives to ascertain whether a cancellation has occurred.

Individuals who receive a cancellation notice will be affected by retrogression. Accordingly, those individuals will have to review the monthly visa bulletin on this website to ascertain when their priority date is current. Once their priority date is current, they will be able to re-apply for an EB-5 immigrant visa. You can learn all about how to check your priority date here. Additionally the DOS maintains a “Priority Date Checker” which is an interactive form that will automatically populate the cut-off date applicable for you. Further information can be found here in English and here in Mandarin.
Continue Reading BREAKING NEWS – EB-5 Visa Retrogression Update: Guangzhou Consulate Cancelling Scheduled Immigrant Visa Interviews

众所周知,自2015年5月1日起,中国的EB-5移民签证申请将面临排期。在下文中我们将对排期宣布以来我们收到的问题进行回答。

1. 如果我的I-526 已经批准了,可是我的子女年龄可能会超龄该如何处理?出于移民的目的,我怎样做可以保持孩子的年龄不变?

国务院已经公布了指导意见,根据《儿童状态保护法案》,下列方式可以“冷冻”住孩子的年龄:

  • 递交DS-260申请;
  • 支付签证费;或
  • 向国家签证中心递交DS-230 申请。

请注意上述冷冻子女年龄的做法只是在《儿童状态保护法案》的范畴内有效。因此,最省时有效的办法就是收到I-526通知后立即用银行本票来支付签证费。所有在201551日前收到I-526批准通知的人都会收到签证费通知单,因此他们都有机会冷冻住子女的年龄。

2. 如果我的I-526申请在2015430日或之前获得批准,但是我还没有收到签证费通知单,该如何处理?

美国国务院签证控制和披露处负责人Charles Oppenheim在“赴美投资”会议上指出2015年4月所有获得批准的I-526申请的签证通知单都会被寄出。因此,如果您的子女可能会超龄,请立即联系我们。出于申请移民的目的,我们会采取一些措施尽量保持孩子年龄不变。
Continue Reading 针对中国EB-5绿卡申请人排期的常见问题及解答

This post was updated April 22, 2015

As you may know, the EB-5 immigrant visa category will retrogress beginning May 2015. Below is a guide to the frequently asked questions we have been receiving since the announcement of retrogression.

1.      What if I have a child who may age-out but my I-526 Petition has been approved? How can I preserve my child’s age for purposes of immigration?

The DOS has issued guidance that the following can freeze a child’s age for the purposes of the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA):

  •  Submission of the DS-260;
  • Payment of the visa fee; OR
  • Submission of a DS-230 to the NVC;

It is important to remember each of those activities listed above will freeze a child’s age for CSPA purposes. Thus, the most cost effective and less timely method is payment of the visa fee bill by cashier’s check as soon as an I-526 Petition approval notice is received. As noted immediately below, all applicants who have received approval of their I-526 Petitions before May 1, 2015, will be issued a fee bill (even past the May 1 cut-off date), thereby enabling those applicants with age-out children to freeze their children’s age for purposes of immigration.
Continue Reading Retrogression FAQs for Chinese EB-5 Based Green Card Applicants

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 visas (green cards) to be issued annually. The employment-based categories are subdivided into five preference categories:

  • EB-1: Priority Workers (Extraordinary Ability, Outstanding Professors and Researchers, and Multinational Managers or Executives)
  • EB-2:  Professionals Holding Advanced Degrees and Persons of Exceptional Ability
  • EB-3:  Skilled Workers, Professionals, and Unskilled Workers
  • EB-4:  Certain Special Immigrants including Religious Workers
  • EB-5:  Immigrant Investors

No one country in each of the five categories is allowed to exceed more than 7 percent of the category per the requirement of 8 U.S. Code § 1153.Continue Reading What Every Chinese EB-5 Applicant and Agent Need to Know About Retrogression

美国国务院每个月都会公布包含移民签证发放名额信息的签证公告。移民签证名额取决于国会制定的限额,即每年外国人可以获得移民签证的名额上限。在基于雇佣关系的绿卡申请领域,国会每年会发放140,000个移民签证(绿卡)。基于雇佣关系的绿卡申请又分为五个优先领域:

  •  EB-1: 优先工作者(特别杰出的能力,优秀的教授和研究人员,跨国公
  •       司经理或高 管)
  •  EB-2:  拥有高等学历的专业人员和有特殊能力的人才
  •  EB-3:  技术工人,专业人员,以及非技术工人
  •  EB-4:  一些特殊移民包括宗教工作者
  •  EB-5:  投资移民

根据美国法典第8章第1153节的规定,任何一个国家的移民申请人不得超过任何一个领域的总名额的7%。Continue Reading 中国EB-5投资人面临排期过程中美国国务院签证公告的运作方式解读