The Department of Homeland Security Inspector General Report regarding the “Investigation into Employee Complaints about Management of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ EB-5 Program” was released March 24, 2015. This report follows a long investigation and inquiries by several congressional offices about the appropriateness of the communications between certain stakeholders in the EB-5
Inspector General
The Office of the Inspector General Releases Report Critical of the USCIS Administration of the EB-5 Regional Center Program
By Laura Foote Reiff ‡ on
Posted in Inspector General
On December 12, 2013, the Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) for the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) released a long awaited report analyzing the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) administration of the EB-5 Regional Center program.
Please see previous posts about the investigation.
The report contains four recommendations of which USCIS…
Senate Confirms USCIS Director Mayorkas for DHS Deputy Position and President Obama Announces His Pick to Replace Him
By Laura Foote Reiff ‡ on
Posted in Inspector General, USCIS
The U.S. Senate confirmed U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Alejandro Mayorkas to be the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security by a straight partisan vote of 54-41. President Obama also announced the nomination of Leon Rodriguez to fill his post. Mr. Rodriguez is currently with the Department of Health and Human Services as the…
U.S. Senate Confirms Jeh Johnson as Secretary of Homeland Security
By Greenberg Traurig, LLP on
Posted in General, Inspector General
On December 16, 2013, the U.S. Senate confirmed Jeh C. Johnson, the former general counsel of the Pentagon, to lead the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in a resounding 78-16 vote. (As reported earlier, the confirmation of Alejandro Mayorkas to become DHS Deputy Secretary is also expected to move forward after a Senate…
Investigating Director Mayorkas and the Inspector General Investigating Mr. Mayorakas – The Impact on the EB-5 Regional Center Program
By Laura Foote Reiff ‡ on
Posted in EB-5 Program, Inspector General
As previously discussed this Fall, Inspector General Investigations and whistle-blower driven reviews by Congressional Oversight Committees are very commonplace in Washington, D.C. The nomination of Alejandro Mayorkas, the current Director of the USCIS at DHS and the presidential nominee to assume the Deputy Secretary position at DHS, now seems to be more complicated than…
Insights on EB-5 Adjudications in the Shadow of Inspector General and Congressional Reviews
By Laura Foote Reiff ‡ on
Inspector General (IG) investigations and whistle-blower driven reviews by Congressional Oversight committees are not new and are commonplace in the federal bureaucracy of the U.S. The recent publicity surrounding Alejandro Mayorkas (the current Director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and presidential nominee to assume the…
Update on EB-5 Processing from USCIS
By Jennifer Hermansky on
Kate Kalmykov, Alissa Brodie and I attended the American Immigration Lawyers’ Association Mexico City EB-5 Conference, “Show Me the Jobs,” on May 2, 2013 in Miami, Florida. The lunch program of the conference featured guest speaker, Rob Silvers, Senior Counselor to USCIS Director, Alejandro Mayorkas. Mr. Silvers addressed the conference, giving an update on…
USCIS Releases Long Awaited Draft EB-5 Policy Memorandum
By Kate Kalmykov on
Posted in Inspector General, USCIS Public Engagement
In November of 2011, and later on in January of 2012, pursuant to a directive by USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas USCIS issued two draft policy memos meant to consolidate all EB-5 guidance into a single overarching policy memorandum. The EB-5 community has been awaiting a third iteration of that memorandum for over a year and on February 14, 2013, USCIS issued a new version meant to include stakeholder comments and policy changes enacted over the course of the past year. The Service will accept comments from the public on the draft guidance until April 1, 2013.
Continue Reading USCIS Releases Long Awaited Draft EB-5 Policy Memorandum
My EB-5 Wishlist for 2013
By Kate Kalmykov on
1. Faster processing times for EB-5 related petitions across the board. For the better portion of 2012, USCIS has repeatedly stated at EB-5 Stakeholder events that their target processing times for all EB-5 related form types including:
· I-924, Applications for Initial Regional Center Designations
· I-924, Amendment Applications to Regional Center Designations
· I-526,…
USCIS Announces Creation of New “EB-5 Program Office”
By Kate Kalmykov on
In the following message publicized today by the USCIS, Director Alejandro Mayorkas announced the creation of a new EB-5 Program office, as well as the implementation of a special review board this month to oversee pending cases that have been recommended for a denial.
I am pleased to announce that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services…