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EB-5 Insights Where Government Policies and Business Realities Converge

Tag Archives: USCIS

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 Shaoul Aslan‡ on Posted in Department of State, EB-3, EB-5, Immigration, Visa Bulletin

The Department of State (DOS) December 2018 Visa Bulletin shows some movement in employment-based categories. The EB-1 category will advance three months in all countries, with China and India advancing to Sept. 1, 2016, and all other countries will move forward to July 21, 2016. The EB-2 category remained current for all countries except China, advancing… Continue Reading

By Patty Elmas* on Posted in China, EB-3, EB-5, EB-5 Program, USCIS, Visa, Visa Bulletin

The Department of State (DOS) November 2018 Visa Bulletin shows movement in employment-based categories. The EB-1 category remained retrogressed for November 2018. Although it is likely that there will be some forward movement in December 2018 for EB-1 India, it will probably NOT return to “current” this calendar year. The EB-2 India category will likely move… 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 Greenberg Traurig on Posted in EB-5, EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, EB-5 Legislation, I-829, Immigrant Investor, Immigrant Visa, Immigration, Immigration Law, Immigration Reform, President Trump's Administration, USCIS, Visa

This is the fifth post in a series that discusses how EB-5 investors and their dependents can maintain eligibility for permanent residence and I-829 Petition approval. This blog focuses on accepting certain public benefits that may make an investor and/or his or her dependents a “public charge.” The Trump Administration has stated that USCIS will start… Continue Reading

By Jennifer Hermansky on Posted in EB-5, EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, EB-5 Legislation, Immigrant Investor, Immigrant Visa, Immigration, Immigration Law, Immigration Reform, President Trump's Administration, Tax Considerations, Visa

This is the fourth post in a series that discusses how EB-5 investors and their dependents can maintain eligibility for permanent residence and I-829 Petition approval. This blog focuses on criminal issues and tax issues. President Trump’s Executive Order, along with a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) implementation memorandum, prioritizes removable aliens who: Have been convicted… Continue Reading

By Jennifer Hermansky on Posted in EB-5, EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, EB-5 Legislation, EB-5 Program, Immigrant Investor, Immigration, Immigration Law, Immigration Reform, President Trump's Administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protections, USCIS

As we previously reported, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a Policy Memorandum entitled “Updated Guidance for the Referral of Cases and Issuance of Notices to Appear (NTAs) in Cases Involving Inadmissible and Deportable Aliens”[1] on June 28, 2018.  This Policy Memorandum was issued in response to President Trump’s Executive Order (EO), “Enhancing Public… 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 Jennifer Hermansky on Posted in EB-5, EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, EB-5 Investment, EB-5 Program, Executive Order, Green Cards, Immigrant Visa, Immigration, Immigration Law, President Trump's Administration, USCIS

As we previously reported, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a Policy Memorandum entitled “Updated Guidance for the Referral of Cases and Issuance of Notices to Appear (NTAs) in Cases Involving Inadmissible and Deportable Aliens” on June 28, 2018. This Policy Memorandum was issued in response to President Trump’s Executive Order (EO), “Enhancing Public Safety… 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 Robert Y. Maples on Posted in EB-5, EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, USCIS

Today, the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary held an oversight hearing on the Immigrant Investor EB-5 program.  The well-attended full committee hearing focused on reported fraud within the current program and the path forward for EB-5.  The sole witness was USCIS Director Francis Cissna. There were a few takeaways from the hearing, including: Director… Continue Reading

By Jennifer Hermansky on Posted in I-829, USCIS

On June 11, 2018, USCIS announced that Petitioners who file Form I-829 Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status, will receive a Form I-797 receipt notice that can be presented with their Form I-551, Permanent Resident Card, as evidence of continued status for 18 months past the expiration date on their conditional… Continue Reading

By Sylvia Sobczyk on Posted in I-829, USCIS

On May 2, 2018, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a Policy Alert regarding an update made to the USCIS Policy Manual related to the documentation for conditional permanent resident (CPR) status provided by USCIS to immigrant investors with pending I-829 petitions.  Every EB-5 investor with CPR status must file an I-829… Continue Reading

By Robert Y. Maples on Posted in EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, Eb-5 Regional Center, USCIS

Today, the Office of Management and Budget via the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs published the Spring Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions . This bi-annual publication informs the public of regulations under consideration or planned by federal agencies.  Agencies are not bound by these postings, but transparency in the rulemaking process is… Continue Reading

By Sylvia Sobczyk on Posted in EB-5, EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, I-829, Immigrant Investor, USCIS

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

By Robert Y. Maples on Posted in Green Cards, USCIS

On 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

By Robert Y. Maples on Posted in Department of Homeland Security, EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, USCIS

On 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:

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 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