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EB-5 Insights Where Government Policies and Business Realities Converge

Tag Archives: GT

By Greenberg Traurig on Posted in EB-5, EB-5 Program, Immigration, Immigration Law

The National Law Journal selected the 2018 Trailblazers in Immigration. This year, Greenberg Traurig Immigration & Compliance attorneys Laura Reiff and Kate Kalmykov were recognized on the list for their notable achievements in the practice of law. Kalmykov leads the immigration practice group in the firm’s New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia offices.  She has… Continue Reading

By Robert Y. Maples on Posted in E-Visa, Immigrant Visa, Immigration, Immigration Law, Visa, Visa Issuance

As an update to an earlier post, on Aug. 1, the president signed the Knowledgeable Innovators and Worthy Investors Act (KIWI Act) granting E-1 and E-2 status to certain New Zealand nationals under mutual considerations. This will permit citizens of New Zealand to apply for U.S. visas to carry on significant trade with the United States… Continue Reading

By Martha Schoonover on Posted in NTAs, USCIS

As previously reported, on June 28, 2018, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a Policy Memorandum titled “Updated Guidance for the Referral of Cases and Issuance of Notices to Appear (NTAs) in Cases Involving Inadmissible and Deportable Aliens.”   USCIS has announced that because it is waiting for operational guidance on the Policy… Continue Reading

By Kristen W. Ng on Posted in Denials, NOID, Notices to Appear, RFE

On June 28, 2018, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a Policy Memorandum titled “Updated Guidance for the Referral of Cases and Issuance of Notices to Appear (NTAs) in Cases Involving Inadmissible and Deportable Aliens.” Later, on July 13, 2018, the USCIS issued a Policy Memorandum titled “Issuance of Certain RFEs and NOIDs.”… Continue Reading

By Nataliya Rymer on Posted in EB-5 Program, Retrogression, U.S. State Department, Vietnam Retrogression

The U.S. State Department has released its monthly Visa Bulletin for the month of May 2018.  Notably, the priority dates for the Regional Center EB-5 category for nationals of Vietnam have become subject to retrogression.  As of May 1, 2018, only those approved Vietnamese EB-5 investors under the Regional Center Pilot Program whose EB-5 petitions… 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 Robert Y. Maples on Posted in EB-5, EB-5 Program, Omnibus Appropriations Act

Today, President Trump signed the Omnibus Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2018, that includes an extension of the EB-5 program until Sept. 30, 2018, along with the Conrad 30 program for foreign doctors and the Special Immigrant Religious Workers program.  The bill also includes a 3-year reauthorization of the E-Verify program (Sept. 30, 2020). Today’s… Continue Reading

By Robert Y. Maples on Posted in Continuing Resolution (CR), EB-5 Program

Tonight, by a vote of 245-182, the House approved it’s version of the 5th Continuing Resolution (CR), funding government operations and extending government programs, such as EB-5, until March 23.  The bill now proceeds to the Senate for further consideration. As of this writing, it is expected that the Senate will continue overall budget negotiations… Continue Reading

By Robert Y. Maples on Posted in Continuing Resolution (CR), EB-5

Tonight, House Appropriations Chairman, Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ), filed a fifth short-term Continuing Resolution (CR) extending government funding and important programs, such as EB-5,  from Feb. 8 until March 23.  After late-night Conference meetings, House Republicans developed the framework and timing of the CR. The CR is expected to be acted upon by the House later this week. … Continue Reading

By Laura Foote Reiff on Posted in Continuing Resolution (CR), EB-5, Government Shutdown

Late Friday (Jan. 19)  the U.S. Senate failed to pass the House of Representatives approved Continuing Resolution (or CR).  As of January 20th the federal government is in a shutdown.  It appears that the Senate will attempt another CR vote to extend vital programs, such as EB-5, through Feb. 8, 2018. This vote could come… Continue Reading

By Kristen W. Ng, , and on Posted in Conrad 30 Waiver Program, E-Verify, EB-5 Program

By a vote of 231-188 on Dec. 21 (before the previous extension deadline of midnight on Dec. 22), the House passed the Senate amendment to H.R. 1370 extending Continuing Appropriations for government services and programs to Jan. 19. Upon passage, H.R. 1370 was sent immediately to the Senate, where it passed by a vote of… Continue Reading

By Robert Y. Maples on Posted in EB-5, USCIS, Visa

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… Continue Reading

By Greenberg Traurig on Posted in President Trump's Administration, Travel

Ian R. Macdonald and Kristen W. Ng were recently featured in an article on The LexBlog Network titled, “Third Time’s a Charm? Greenberg Traurig’s Team Breaks down Trump’s Latest Travel Ban.” In this Q&A, Macdonald and Ng explore the third version of the Trump Administration’s travel ban and what it means for employers and employees… Continue Reading

By Kristen W. Ng on Posted in GT Alert, President Trump's Administration, Travel

On Sept. 24, 2017, President Trump issued a Proclamation imposing new limitations on visa issuance and travel to the United States for nationals of eight countries entitled “Presidential Proclamation Enhancing Vetting Capabilities and Processes for Detecting Attempted Entry Into the United States by Terrorists or Other Public-Safety Threats.”  These countries include: Chad, Iran, Libya, North… Continue Reading

By Jennifer Hermansky on Posted in For I-924A, Privacy Act notice, USCIS

On Aug. 24, 2017, USCIS hosted a webinar to provide guidance on Form I-924A for the fiscal year 2017.  Form I-924A is used by regional centers to demonstrate continued eligibility for regional center designation.  Regional centers that remain designated for participation in the program as of Sept. 30 of a given year must submit Form… Continue Reading

By William Mack and on Posted in Investment, Securities Law

On Thursday, July 27, regulators and industry professionals gathered in Washington, D.C. to discuss the current regulatory environment, cybersecurity, and other hot topics at the SEC and FINRA’s 2017 National Compliance Outreach Program for Broker-Dealers. The panelists, including SEC Commissioner Michael Piwowar, FINRA President and CEO Robert Cook, and Susan Axelrod, the Executive Vice President of… Continue Reading

By Greenberg Traurig on Posted in National Visa Center, USCIS, Visa, Visa Bulletin

在2017年6月与7月间，国家签证中心（“NVC”）对大量之前已收到案件审核完毕确认信并在等待安排面试的移民签证案件发布了的新的通知。 值得您注意的是，从2016年10月起，NVC开始根据美国国务院颁布的签证排期表中的申请递件排期表（表B）的截止日，来发送缴费通知和启动移民签证的案件处理。但是这些最新的通知却向之前已经被NVC审理完毕的案子再次发出确认案件由美国移民局转移到了NVC，并要求申请人提交移民签证申请和支持文件的通知。 现在我们已经澄清这些通知是错误的，NVC目前正在更新收到这些错误通知的案件的信息。这些案件是指那些之前已经收到NVC确认案件审核完毕，并且优先日已经在表B截至日期前的案件。我们已经收到确认，在以上情况下收到的NVC错误的通知（告知案件刚被转移到NVC或者再次要求申请人递交申请文件）可以会被忽略。 在NVC审查每个案件的状态后，如果以前接受的任何文件需要重新提交，NVC将向代理人发送通知。除此之外，之前已经完成审核并等待移民签证面试的案件将按之前案件审核完成的日期为准重新返回等待面试的队列，并且NVC会给申请人及其律师/代理人发送新的通知信。 NVC将会在这些受到影响的案件恢复后提供确认，届时，NVC将能够更好地回答有关具体案件状态的详细问题。NVC预计该过程大约需要两周时间。 GT将继续更进，并提供关于NVC进展情况的更新。请订阅此博客以获取更新。

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 Kristen W. Ng on Posted in Department of Homeland Security, Travel

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released FAQs for those affected by the recently reinstated travel ban. Earlier last week, the Department of State released their own set of FAQs regarding implementation of the travel ban during visa processing. DHS will be responsible for admitting persons entering the United States and the FAQs on its… Continue Reading

By Kristen W. Ng and on Posted in EB-5 Legislation, EB-5 Program, USCIS

On June 30, USCIS released its Annual Report 2017 to Congress on matters relating to its mission – “Congress charged us with the duty to aid applicants and their sponsors who are experiencing difficulties applying for immigration benefits with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). In addition, Congress bestowed on us the responsibility of identifying… Continue Reading

By Kristen W. Ng on Posted in Executive Order, President Trump's Administration, Travel

As previously reported, the Supreme Court of the United States lifted the injunctions that were granted by the Fourth and Ninth Circuits after President Trump issued his second Executive Order mandating a temporary travel ban. This means that the second Executive Order (EO) is now in effect as of June 29. The injunctions for the… Continue Reading

By Greenberg Traurig on Posted in EB-5, EB-5 Program, Events

Greenberg Traurig’s EB-5 team will sponsor and participate as an organizing committee member of the 2017 Invest in America Summit and Exhibition, the largest USA-themed investment conference and exhibition in China, with attorneys Kate Kalmykov and Laura Reiff as VIP speakers. The Summit will travel to four Chinese cities in 2017. Event dates and locations… Continue Reading

By Nataliya Rymer on Posted in Executive Order, Temporary Restraining Order, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

On Feb. 9, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a ruling keeping in force the temporary restraining order (TRO) that was issued last Friday by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. The TRO was issued in connection with the lawsuit filed by State of Washington and State… Continue Reading

By Nataliya Rymer on Posted in Executive Order, Temporary Restraining Order, U.S. Customs and Border Protections

On February 3, 2017,  U.S. District Judge James L. Robart of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington at Seattle issued a Temporary Restraining Order (“TRO”) halting the enforcement of the Executive Order (“EO”) “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States,” signed by President Trump on January 27th,… Continue Reading