DHS Drops Behring Appeal By Carolyn Lee One of 2021’s biggest questions was resolved with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)’s motion to dismiss its appeal in the Behring litigation. DHS filed the motion on January 5, 2022, effectively withdrawing its appeal of the June 2021 court order voiding the EB-5 Modernization Regulations. [...]
Important USCIS Announcement for Regional Centers Filing Form I-924A for FY2021 Although the statutory authorization for the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Regional Center Program ended at midnight on June 30, 2021, USCIS announced that the service will accept filings for Form I-924A for the fiscal year 2021 pursuant to the notice posted on the [...]
Regional Center Advocacy - Cases During Lapse The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) led a joint advocacy effort to keep regional center petitions in abeyance during lapse by sending the following letter on Friday, December 10, 2021. USCIS has posted information on its website stating, “[a]t the end of calendar year 2021, unless [...]
USCIS Implements Procedures for Certain HK Residents Applying for Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) and U.S. Employment Authorization On August 5, 2021, President Biden issued a memorandum directing the Department of Homeland Security to defer for 18 months, through February 5, 2023, the removal of certain Hong Kong residents in the United States pursuant [...]
Relief for 2002 Public Law Investors? USCIS I-829 Applicant Alert At long last, USCIS is taking a step toward implementing the 2002 Public Law enacted to help certain EB-5 investors caught in USCIS's retroactive application of new eligibility requirements over two decades ago. The USCIS website solicits certain investors meeting 3 stated criteria [...]
Proposed Greencard Backlog Relief for EB-5 Investors By: Carolyn Lee In advance of the markup scheduled for today, Monday, September 13, 2021, at 10 am Eastern time, Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY-10thDistrict) introduced sweeping immigration benefits affecting EB-5 investors.¹ First, Mr. Nadler’s legislative proposal would exempt EB-5 investors and their family members from numerical limits [...]
International Entrepreneur Parole: Investment Immigration Solution for High-Growth Startups By Carolyn Lee Introduction. The International Entrepreneur Parole rule (the “IER”) was implemented by final rule published January 2017 to increase and enhance entrepreneurship, innovation, and job creation in the United States. More specifically, the IER is designed to create a means for entrepreneurs [...]
LIKE Act: A New Start-Up Visa Bill On July 26, 2021, the Let Immigrants Kickstart Employment Act (“LIKE Act”) was introduced to Congress to establish a new class of nonimmigrant visas for entrepreneurs and essential employees affiliated with start-up entities. The proposed LIKE Act seeks to amend section 101(a)(15) of the Immigration and [...]
Summer Investor Travel for Returning F-1 Students & NIE Update Recently the U.S. government has made several proclamations to limit the entry to the United States for people who have been in countries with high coronavirus risk, known as geographic COVID-19 travel restrictions. As of June 24, 2021, the countries subject to the [...]
USCIS Officially Reinstates Pre-Modernization EB-5 Regulations Below is the update posted on the USCIS website in response to the court decision that vacated the EB-5 Modernization Regulation. The update is published here: https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/permanent-workers/eb-5-immigrant-investor-program Alert: On June 22, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, in [...]
