The federal government’s fiscal year begins on Oct. 1, and while the new fiscal year brings new visa numbers, many EB-5 regional center stakeholders and investors were surprised by the
Continue Reading Takeaways From State Department’s EB-5 Visa DelaysOn Feb. 7, 2020, the official visa information website of the U.S. mission in China (http://cdn.ustraveldocs.com/cn/index.html?firstTime=No) announced that as of Feb. 3, 2020, regular visa services at the
Continue Reading Update – U.S. Embassy and Consulates General in China Suspended Regular Visa Services as of Feb. 3
As a follow-up to our Jan. 31 blog post, we have yet to see an official announcement from the U.S. Embassy & Consulates in China regarding visa appointment cancellations for the week of Feb. 10 or later. However, this week, we began receiving non-immigrant and immigrant visa appointment cancellations for the week of Feb. 10. Likewise, the U.S. Consulate General in Guangzhou informed some EB-5 investors that “Due to the evolving situation with the novel corona virus, and the Chinese government response, the USCIS Consulate Guangzhou is cancelling immigrant visa appointments the week of February 10.”
Continue Reading Update on Cancellation of Visa Appointments at U.S. Embassy and Consulates in China, and USCIS Response to the Coronavirus
On Jan. 31, the official visa information website of the U.S. mission in China posted an urgent announcement that U.S. Embassy and Consulates in China are cancelling immigrant and nonimmigrant
Continue Reading Alert – U.S. Embassy and Consulates in China Cancel Immigrant and Nonimmigrant Visa Interviews for the Week of Feb. 3 通知：美国驻华大使馆和领事馆取消2月3日一周的移民类和非移民类签证面试
On Jan. 29, 2020, USCIS announced that it would be making a significant change to the processing of I-526 Petitions, commonly referred to as EB-5 Petitions. USCIS previously had a policy to adjudicate EB-5 Petitions on a “first-in, first-out” basis. This meant that USCIS was to review and decide EB-5 Petitions based solely on the date the petition was filed with USCIS. Today, USCIS announced that it would change this policy and decide EB-5 Petitions using the “visa availability” approach.
The “visa availability” approach outlined by USCIS would prioritize EB-5 Petitions for adjudication based on whether a visa number is available to the investor. This ties the timing of the decision on the EB-5 petition to whether the investor is subject to visa retrogression based on their country of birth. As a reminder, the employment-based fifth preference category “EB-5” is allotted approximately 10,000 immigrant visas annually. This quota includes principal applicants, as well as spouses and dependent children under 21 years of age. No one country can exceed more than seven percent of the total EB-5 visas available in each fiscal year.Continue Reading USCIS Announces Significant Change to EB-5 Adjudications Processing