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 Delays

The U.S. Department of State announced on July 13, 2020, via Twitter, that U.S. embassies and consulates are entering a “phased resumption of routine visa services” beginning July 15, 2020.
Continue Reading U.S. Embassies and Consulates Expected to Resume Visa Services Beginning on July 15

As you may have read, many media outlets and other sources are reporting that the Trump Administration plans to issue an additional Proclamation or Executive Order (EO) in the coming
Continue Reading Possible Presidential Proclamation to Limit Entry of Foreign National Workers into the U.S. and additional regulatory measures on the Horizon

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.

What is 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