Key Insights on EB-5 Visa Backlogs from Bernie Wolfsdorf and Charlie Oppenheim

Crackdown on Communist/Totalitarian Party Admissibility Expected to Have Particular Effect on Chinese Immigrants

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has added a new section to its Policy Manual directing immigration officers to strictly enforce existing law on the inadmissibility of any intending immigrant who is a member or affiliate of the Communist Party or any other totalitarian party (or subdivision or affiliate), domestic or foreign, unless otherwise exempt. The new guidance provides step-by-step instructions for officers making inadmissibility determinations on this basis. According to anecdotal reports, this and other anti-China actions by the Trump administration are affecting Chinese immigrants especially, who are experiencing an uptick in visa denials at U.S. consulates and by USCIS for the I-485 adjustment of status applications. Many millions of Chinese are nominally members of the Communist Party, and the crackdown could have the effect of banning even low-level members whose party membership is in name only. WR reported an increase in scrutiny by U.S. consulates on this issue as early as 2018, primarily for Chinese and Vietnamese visa issuances and adjustment-of-status applications. More recently, reports from China indicate that the U.S. Consulate General in Guangzhou increased immigrant visa denials related to membership in the Chinese Communist Party, despite the fact that such membership is required and involuntary for most to […]