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Tag Archives: USCIS

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

By Jennifer Blloshmi* on Posted in H-1B Cap, President Trump's Administration, USCIS, Visa

For 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

By Kristen W. Ng on Posted in Department of Homeland Security, Department of State, Immigrant Visa, President Trump's Administration, USCIS, Visa

On 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.

By Robert Y. Maples on Posted in USCIS

On 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

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

The 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

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 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 Nadia Sowinski* on Posted in National Visa Center, USCIS, Visa, Visa Bulletin

In 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

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 Shaun Staller on Posted in Green Cards, USCIS

U.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

By Dillon Colucci on Posted in Eb-5 Regional Center, I-924, Regional Center, USCIS

USCIS 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

By Dillon Colucci on Posted in EB-5 Program, USCIS

EB-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。

By Dillon Colucci on Posted in EB-5 Program, USCIS

A 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

By Dillon Colucci on Posted in EB-5 Program, I-526, I-924, Immigrant Investor, Immigration, Regional Center, USCIS

The 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

By Greenberg Traurig on Posted in EB-5, EB-5 Program, Eb-5 Regional Center, I-526, I-829, I-924, USCIS

On 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

By Cole F. Heyer on Posted in Department of Homeland Security, USCIS, Visa

Beginning 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