The Biden administration has issued a regulation exercising its discretion to use "parole in place" to create a path to the green card within the U.S. for certain foreign nationals: (a) who illegally entered the U.S. only...more
On October 11, 2023, USCIS published on its web site a new Guidance on numerous aspects of the EB-5 program as affected by enactment on March 15, 2022, of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA). While the guidance...more
EB-5 regional centers approved before the enactment of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA) have been given new clarity and mercy about the new Integrity Fee, but they remain in limbo about filing I-956 amendments...more
USCIS has issued meaningful new guidance about some important topics relating to the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA), i.e., the new $20,000 or $10,000 per year regional center (RC) integrity fee, USCIS...more
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has published a draft Form I-956K for public comment with instructions for use by EB-5 securities "promoters," implementing a new and unusual statutory requirement for...more
An agreement settling litigation against USCIS overturns its initial interpretation of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA) and allows regional centers (RCs) that were designated before RIA enactment to sponsor new...more
On March 15, 2022, the United States enacted the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (the 2022 Act) as part of a large omnibus budget package of legislation. The 39-page compromise legislation grandfathers existing workers...more
Prospective EB-5 investors have watched 2019 regulations nearly double minimum investment amounts, only then to see those regulations judicially vacated in 2021 just as the regional center legislation expired on June 30,...more
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has published on its website that full COVID-19 vaccination will become much more central to U.S. land border travel "in January." The announcement is supported by Federal...more
With regional center legislation expired for now, and almost all investors born in Mainland China having used a regional center sponsorship, there should be nearly zero Chinese investors waiting for an EB-5 visa number and...more
Spouses of H-1B, L-1, and maybe E-1/E-2/E-3 workers or investors will have an easier time maintaining work authorization under a litigation settlement entered by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The...more
On October 25, 2021, the White House issued a new COVID-related Proclamation about air travel to the U.S. effective at 12:01 EST on November 8, 2021. It revoked prior country-specific bans in favor of a complex combination...more
The Biden Administration has disclosed preliminary plans to provide exemption to the ban on visas and entry for travelers to the U.S. from many countries if they are fully vaccinated and submit to enhanced contact tracing...more
On June 30, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued clear guidance about how it will implement the expiration of the regional center law as of midnight, until any renewal legislation becomes enacted or...more
This week two major events occurred in the EB-5 investment visa program: (1) Congress failed to enact a law renewing the law authorizing regional centers and indirect investment and job creation, which expires June 30; and...more
A magistrate judge in federal court in California seems likely soon to issue an order invalidating the 2019 EB-5 regulations despite current DHS Secretary Mayorkas' recent ratification of same. The probable results: (1)...more
More than 78 days into the Biden Administration, less dust than expected or hoped has settled on the landscape for business and family immigration to the U.S. This article briefly assesses the state of play concerning...more
4/8/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
F-1 Visa ,
H-1B ,
H-4 Spouses ,
Immigration ,
Presidential Proclamations ,
Travel Restrictions ,
USCIS ,
Visas
USCIS has finalized a new regulation that would allocate new cap-subject H-1B petitions to the highest paid workers. It seems likely that President-Elect Biden will extend the effective date from early March by 60 more days,...more
On October 16, USCIS announced that, effective Monday, October 19, the fee for currently designated case types will increase from $1,440 to $2,500. Congress authorized this in a bill we summarized after its enactment....more
New rules published by the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Department of Homeland Security (specifically, USCIS) are intended to severely restrict the use of the H-1B and related H-1B1 and E-3 visa classifications for...more
On October 1 a federal district court in California immediately enjoined the implementation of the President's Proclamation against the issuance of visas in the H, L, and J classifications, pending further hearings in the...more
A stopgap funding bill to avoid a U.S. federal government shutdown temporarily extends otherwise expiring immigration categories, but also includes an interesting permanent provision to solve the ongoing financial problems of...more
Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) expanded slightly who can qualify as "accredited investors." Many EB-5 issuers use securities registration exemptions that allow subscription and even solicitation of...more
USCIS is temporarily allowing the acceptance of an approval notice for I-765 employment authorization document application, and ICE is continuing to allow remote verification for employers still operating remotely....more
USCIS has updated its Policy Manual to retroactively "clarify" its policy on the parameters for "new commercial enterprises" (NCEs) to "redeploy" capital of EB-5 investors after the capital is returned from the original job...more