WR Immigration Partner Cliff Rosenthal and Senior Associate Josune Aguirre Gamez discuss strategies and share their expertise and knowledge to help give you the roadmap to a successful Sports Visa. As well as the journey, what to expect and the dos and don’ts when applying for your Sports Visa. Watch below!
With Processing 36-60 Months, Litigation May Be the Only Option to Secure Permanent Green Card USCIS has begun to issue receipt notices to all immigrant investors with pending Form I-829, Petition by Investor to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status, three months after announcing the policy change to extend Conditional Lawful Permanent Residency to 24 months upon a timely filing of a Form I-829. USCIS is issuing new receipts to immigrant investors who have already been waiting for adjudication for over 24 months, which hardly helps when the waiting line is 3-5+ years. USCIS online processing times show that it takes the Immigrant Investor Program Office (IPO) 38 to 63.5 months to adjudicate a Form I-829. An immigrant investor is not even allowed to inquire on the status of one’s case unless the I-829 was filed before September 2016. This makes no sense, in particular nowadays when IPO does not have Regional Center-based Form I-526 petitions to adjudicate. It appears USCIS will not adjudicate a Form I-829 unless being forced to as a result of mandamus litigation alleging unreasonable delay. In the past 30 days, it appears IPO has only adjudicated 100 Form I-829s. For immigrant investors whose Form I-829 has been […]
By Joseph Barnett and Bernard Wolfsdorf The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 brings the immigrant investor program back to life. The May 2022 Visa Bulletin has just been published and it lists new fifth-preference visa categories as follows: A. DIRECT EB-5 CURRENT FOR ALL COUNTRIES, INCLUDING CHINA All countries are current under the 5th preference direct program – so-called “Unreserved (C5, T5, and all others) are now open. This includes China. B. REGIONAL CENTER EB-5 CURRENT FOR ALL COUNTRIES, EXCEPT CHINA STUCK AT 22NOV15 C. NEW SET ASIDE CATEGORIES CURRENT FOR ALL COUNTRIES, INCLUDING CHINA As of March 2021, 32% of all EB-5 visas are reserved as follows: 20% reserved for qualified immigrants who invest in a rural area; 10% reserved for qualified immigrants who invest in a high unemployment area; and 2% reserved for qualified immigrants who invest in infrastructure projects. Any unused “set aside” visas are to be reserved for a maximum of two years. The remaining 68% are unreserved and are allotted for all other qualified EB-5 immigrants. IMPACT OF EB-5 CURRENT CATEGORIES Persons lawfully in the U.S. (or even certain 245(k) persons out of status by up to 180days) can file I-485 adjustment of […]
