Today, OMB posted that they have concluded their review of the Obama-era EB-5 regulations. On Jan. 13, 2017, the Department of Homeland Security published a notice of proposed rulemaking to significantly raise minimum investment levels and other programmatic changes to the EB-5 program (see related GT EB-5 Insights post here). It is unclear what
New Bill Introduced to Use Economic Abilities of EB-5 to Assist Disaster Recovery in Declared National Disaster Areas
On April 9, 2019, Rep. González-Colón (R-PR-At Large) introduced H.R.2173 – a bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to reserve EB-5 visas each fiscal year for investors in new commercial enterprises in areas where a major disaster has been declared by the president.
The bill is not publicly available as of this writing,
EB-5 Processing During the Government Shutdown
The U.S. federal government shut down at the end of the day on Dec. 21, 2018, and the president did not sign into law the extension of the EB-5 program passed by the Senate. Until the shutdown ends, and the Regional Center EB-5 program extension is signed into law, no new I-526 petitions can be
U.S. District Court for District of Columbia Issues Important Decision in Favor of EB-5 Investors
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
USCIS Updates Policy Manual Regarding Impermissible Debt Arrangements
On Oct. 30, 2018, USCIS issued an update to the USCIS Policy Manual clarifying the types of agreements that constitute an impermissible debt arrangement. USCIS revised Part G, Volume 6, Chapter 2, Section A.2. to reflect various scenarios where an operating agreement of a new commercial enterprise will or will not constitute an impermissible redemption
OMB Publishes Fall 2018 Unified Agenda with EB-5 Regulatory Updates
Today, OMB published the bi-annual Unified Regulatory Agenda. This important transparency tool reflects agency rulemaking updates and plans for the immediate future. The updates are broad and encompass all areas of rulemaking. The dates provided by the agency are best thinking at the time and are subject to change. For purposes of this blog, we
Important Development for Vietnamese and Chinese EB-5 Investors in October 2018
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”
Maintaining Eligibility for Permanent Residence for EB-5 Investors: Accepting Public Benefits
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
Maintaining Eligibility for Permanent Residence for EB-5 Investors: Criminal Issues and Taxes
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
Maintaining Eligibility for Permanent Residence for EB-5 Investors: Termination of CPR Status
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