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!
By: Bernard Wolfsdorf A silver lining exists for some immigrants due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. With most U.S. consulates closed or limited to emergency visa processing, there will be many more employment based (EB) immigrant visas available in Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 which starts on October 1, 2020. The Immigration and Nationality Act provides that if the full quota of family-based visas is not used in any fiscal year, then the unused numbers are added to next year’s employment-based immigration quota. The October 2020 Visa Bulletin indicates that the employment-based quota will be 261,500 – almost double the usual annual quota. This is all-time high – as opposed to the usual 140,000 visas. With U.S. Consulates operating at minimum capacity together with Presidential Proclamations suspending most family-based immigrant visas – there has been a huge “spillover” of at least 120,000 visas available in FY 2021. EB-5 gets 7.1% of those. So, in addition to the normally allocated 10,000 visas, the EB-5 category will get at least 8,566 extra visas for a total of around 18,566 visas. These additional visas, together with future unused visas resulting from the November 21, 2019 Modernization regulations that increased the minimum investment to $900,000 for Targeted Employment and Rural areas, could […]
As part of a continued chilling of relations between the United States and China under the Trump administration, on December 4, 2020, the Department of State announced several new restrictions on Chinese Communist Party members, including: New rules limiting the validity of B1/B2 visas to one month and single-entry for Chinese Communist Party members and their families. B1/B2 visas for Chinese nationals are normally valid for 10 years and allow multiple entries. Termination of five exchange programs, including the Policymakers Educational China Trip Program, the U.S.-China Friendship Program, the U.S.-China Leadership Exchange Program, the U.S.-China Transpacific Exchange Program, and the Hong Kong Educational and Cultural Program. A Department of State spokesperson told the New York Times that no current visas would be revoked as a result of the policy changes. Details: “Termination of PRC-Funded Propaganda Programs,” Department of State, https://2017-2021.state.gov/termination-of-prc-funded-propaganda-programs/index.html S. Tightens Visa Rules for Chinese Communist Party Members,” New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/03/world/asia/us-visa-china-communist-party.html “Trump Restricts U.S. Visas for Chinese Communist Party Members and Families,” Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/us-visas-china-communist-trump/2020/12/03/bf6694ea-3551-11eb-9699-00d311f13d2d_story.html
