Due to a recent system conversion at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), all I-829 receipt notices and ASC Appointment notices are now delayed 90 days or more. This may be dismaying for many EB-5 investors and their dependent family members who may have waited a long time to reach this final step… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: USCIS
Homeland Security Inspector General Issues Report on USCIS Processing Times for Green Cards
Posted in Green Cards, USCISOn March 14, USCIS released an Inspector General’s report on Green Card Processing Times. The report found that green card processing times exceeded the existing 120-day goal by taking an average of 282 days to complete. The report identified processing times are greatly affected by interviews and vetting occurring at USCIS. The report made two… Continue Reading
Center for Regulatory Effectiveness Petitions DHS for Rulemaking to Reform EB-5
Posted in Department of Homeland Security, EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, USCISOn Jan. 17, The Center for Regulatory Effectiveness (The CRE), a Washington D.C. administrative watchdog group, filed a petition with the Department of Homeland Security to reform the EB-5 program to create jobs in rural America and areas of high unemployment. In making the announcement, The CRE posted:
OMB OIRA Releases Unified Agenda and USCIS Regulatory Priorities, Including H-1B, EB-5, and More
Posted in EB-5, USCIS, VisaOn 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
I-526 Practice Tips to Help Avoid RFEs and NOIDs on Third-Party Exchangers
Posted in I-526, USCISWe 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
USCIS 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
New Trump Administration Policy in Support of Buy American, Hire American Toughens Visa Extension Process
Posted in H-1B Cap, President Trump's Administration, USCIS, VisaFor over a decade, filing an extension of nonimmigrant status in visa categories such as the H-1B was a fairly routine process for cases involving the same employer and same underlying facts. This changed yesterday. As part of the Trump Administration’s Buy American, Hire American: Putting American Workers First initiative, USCIS rescinded a long-standing policy… Continue Reading
The White House Releases Immigration Principles & Policies
Posted in Department of Homeland Security, Department of State, Immigrant Visa, President Trump's Administration, USCIS, VisaOn 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.
Senate Confirms Lee Francis Cissna to Lead USCIS
Posted in USCISOn Oct. 5, the U.S. Senate approved the nomination of Lee Francis Cissna to lead the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency (USCIS) on a bipartisan vote of 54-43. All Republican senators supported the nomination and were joined by Democrat Senators Donnelly (IN), Heitkamp (ND), Manchin (WV) and McCaskill (MO). Senators Cochran (R-MS), Cortez Masto… Continue Reading
Seeking Permanent Residence? USCIS Issues New Interview Requirements Taking Effect Oct. 1
Posted in Department of Homeland Security, USCISThe Department of Homeland Security announced on Aug. 28, 2017 that beginning on Oct. 1, USCIS will begin requiring in-person interviews at local district offices for adjustment of status applications based on employment, as well as certain refugee/asylee relative petitions. In the past, USCIS did not require an in-person interview adjustment of status applications based… Continue Reading
USCIS Discusses Guidance on Form I-924A for FY 2017
Posted in For I-924A, Privacy Act notice, USCISOn 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
National Visa Center (NVC) Confirms it is Working To Restore Cases Affected by October 2016 Retrogression: Notice on Employment 5th Preference Cases at NVC
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。
National Visa Center Confirms it is Working To Restore Cases Affected by October 2016 Retrogression: Notice on Employment 5th Preference Cases at NVC
Posted in National Visa Center, USCIS, Visa, Visa BulletinIn June/July 2017, the National Visa Center (NVC) issued notices for a large number of the immigrant visa cases, which had been previously confirmed completed and awaiting interview scheduling by NVC. As a reminder, in October of 2016, NVC began issuing immigrant visa fee bills and processing cases when their priority date became current based on… Continue Reading
USCIS Ombudsman Releases Annual Report to Congress
Posted in EB-5 Legislation, EB-5 Program, USCISOn 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
Form I-924 Average Processing Time Reaches Greater than 20 Months
Posted in EB-5, Eb-5 Regional Center, I-924, USCISAs of May 26, 2017, USCIS is processing Form I-924 applications filed on or before Sept. 16, 2015. This reflects a greater than 20-month processing time for Form I-924. This is most likely the longest processing time in the history of the Regional Center EB-5 Program, and is certainly the longest processing time USCIS has… Continue Reading
USCIS to Begin Issuing Redesigned ‘Green Cards’ Starting May 1, 2017
Posted in Green Cards, USCISU.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on April 19, 2017 that the agency will begin issuing revamped Permanent Resident Cards (commonly referred to as “green cards”) and Employment Authorization Documents (EAD Cards) as a part of the Next Generation Secure Identification Document Project, a multi-agency initiative aimed at modernizing security measures through advanced biometrics technologies…. Continue Reading
USCIS Launches Regional Center Compliance for the EB-5 Program
Posted in Eb-5 Regional Center, I-924, Regional Center, USCISUSCIS announced on March 21, 2017 the launch of its EB-5 Regional Center Compliance Audit Program (Audit Program). The Regional Center Compliance Audit partially clarifies what USCIS has spoken about in public at stakeholder engagements, which is the eventual use by USCIS of site-visits to verify information submitted in EB-5 petitions. There appears to be… Continue Reading
美国移民局开始要求投资人提供协助货币互换的第三方的资金来源
Posted in EB-5 Program, USCISEB-5投资移民的一个关键要求是需要每个投资人以优势证据(“preponderance of evidence”)表明,他们投资到新商业企业的资金来自合法来源。由于许多国家的货币限制,投资人可能会通过私人资金交换的方式来与第三方互换货币。这种类型的私人货币兑换和在中东流行的“哈瓦拉”系统可能比较相似。 在典型的EB-5货币互换中,投资人将以本地货币转入第三方(实体或自然人)的账户中。然后,第三方再以等额的美元资金转入投资人的海外账户。投资人然后把收到的美元投资到一个新的商业企业。该投资人将妥善记录此货币互换交易,并提交I-526请愿书。通常情况下,投资人并没有提供关于第三方资金来源的任何信息. 直到最近,美国移民局并没有质疑协助货币互换的第三方的资金来源。不过,美国移民局似乎已经改变了内部政策,并已开始对每个使用第三方协助资金交换的案件发出补件要求。该政策似乎针对所有第三方,无论是实体还是自然人。因此,已经提交I-526申请,但未提供文件证明第三方资金来源的投资人应开始考虑,并为可能发出的补件要求做准备。尚未提交I-526申请,但打算使用第三方资金交换方式来将货币转到美国的投资人应考虑收集有关第三方资金来源的文件,这样可能有助于减少收到补件要求的可能性。
USCIS Begins Requesting Lawful Source of Funds for Third-Party Capital Exchanges
Posted in EB-5 Program, USCISA crucial requirement of the EB-5 Program is that each individual demonstrate by a preponderance of evidence that the monies invested in a new commercial enterprise were derived from a lawful source. Due to currency restrictions in many foreign countries, individuals may swap currency in a private exchange of funds. This type of private currency… 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
USCIS Reissuing Employment Authorization Document (EAD) Receipt Notices for Certain EAD Categories Filed Between July 21, 2016 and Jan. 17, 2017
Posted in Department of Homeland Security, USCIS, VisaBeginning Feb. 16, 2016, USCIS began reissuing receipt notices on Form I-797 to applicants who continue to have pending applications for renewed employment authorization (EAD applications) under certain categories that were originally filed between July 21, 2016 and Jan. 16, 2017. EAD applications that were filed during this window did not fall within the benefits of… Continue Reading
GT Alert – Preparing for H-1B Cap Season in Fiscal Year 2018
Posted in H-1B Cap, USCISThis year’s H-1B cap is fast approaching. USCIS will start accepting new H-1B petitions for Fiscal Year 2018 on April 1, 2017. Although the federal government annually allocates 65,000 H-1B visas to eligible foreign national employees, USCIS receives far more H-1B petitions within the first weeks or even days of April during each fiscal year… Continue Reading