The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has posted for public inspection an advanced copy of a final rule that will significantly alter many fees the USCIS charges for services, including adding new fees, establishing multiple fees for nonimmigrant worker petitions, and limiting the number of beneficiaries for certain
Enterline and Partners recently represented a newlywed couple living in the Philippines in an expedited I-130 Petition for Alien Relative at the U.S. Embassy in Manila. The couple, a U.S. citizen and a Philippines citizen, were married in the United States and living in Manila. The expedited filing, which was
EB-5 investors and projects continue to contend with lengthy delays in the processing of I-526 Petitions. Average processing times have steadily increased over the past few years, in stark contrast to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) new Investor Program Office (“IPO”) statements that it would reverse the trend
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) is scheduled to resume Form I-907 Request for Premium Processing Service for Form I-129 Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker and Form I-140 Petition for Alien Workers in phases throughout the month of June. Premium processing was temporarily suspended on March 20th due to
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) is scheduled to resume non-emergency in-person services on June 4th. On March 18, USCIS suspended routine in-person services at its field offices, asylum offices, and application support centers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As USCIS services recommence, offices will reduce the number
Individuals in the United States admitted under the Visa Waiver Program (“VWP”) are not allowed to file for an extension of status; moreover, the maximum period of admission is three months. However, those admitted under the VWP who are unable to depart before their approved period of admission because of
David Enterline was recently interviewed by Ms. Jenny Nguyen of American Lending Center about the United States EB-5 immigrant investor program. Some of the topics discussed were how President Trump’s 60-day immigration ban does not impact EB-5 investors, new changes on how the United States Immigration and Citizenship Services (“USCIS”)
New legislation has been introduced in the United States Senate to grant unused immigrant visas to foreign healthcare professionals to help fight the coronavirus. The Senate bill would authorize up to 25,000 immigrant visas for foreign nurses and up to 15,000 for foreign doctors. The legislation would also allow the
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has announced that in-person services at its offices will reopen as early as June 4th in compliance with local and state orders. In-person services at USCIS include field offices, asylum offices, and application support centers. During this extended closure period, USCIS will
The United States Immigration and Citizenship Services (“USCIS”) has published its quarterly performance data for Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Investor and Form I-829, Petition by Entrepreneurs to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status. The number of I-526 petition filings are not much of a surprise and the painfully
The Employment Based Second Preference Immigrant Visa Category (EB-2) Advanced Degree Holder and Person of Exceptional Ability with National Interest Waivers. Previously we wrote about the qualifications for an Employment Based Second Preference (EB-2) Immigrant Visa which is for persons who have an advanced degree or persons with exceptional ability
On February 24, 2020, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will implement the agency’s new rules for inadmissibility on public charge grounds. The final rule outlines some of the criteria on how the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) will determine whether a foreign national is inadmissible to adjust status from
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) released an updated policy memorandum advising the Department of States (“DOS”) on adjudicating Form I-130 Petitions for Alien Relatives at U.S. Embassies and Consulates through Direct Consular Filing (“DCF.”) The policy memorandum clarifies that USCIS will no longer accept and adjudicate routine I-130 Petitions
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced it is changing the way it will process Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Investor, moving from a first-in, first-out basis to a visa availability approach. The Form I-526 Petition is filed by someone wanting to immigrate to the U.S. via the EB-5
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) is scheduled to increase its filing and processing fees for business visas in 2020. Below are examples of the proposed increased fees by visa category: L-1 and H-1B Visas: L-1 visa petitions (for temporary workers, non-immigrant) are scheduled to increase by 77 percent
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has proposed to increase its filing fees for family-based immigrant visas and naturalization applications in 2020. Below are examples of the proposed fee increases. Spouse and Family-Based Immigrant Visas: Filing fees are scheduled to increase a nominal 3.74 percent from US$535 to US$550.
Most of my clients ask me this question and there is a lot of confusion about the processing times visa waiting times. As a refresher, there is a 3-step process to obtaining lawful permanent residence in the U.S. via the EB-5 immigrant investor visa category. First, an investor files a
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has increased its premium processing fees for Forms I-129 Petition for Nonimmigrant Workers andI-140 Petition for Immigrant Workers on December 2, 2019. The slight increase, from US$1410 to US$1440 was previously reported at USCIS to Increase Premium Processing Filing Fees for Forms
As has become the norm, the U.S. Congress passed a short-term continuing resolution (“CR”) funding the U.S. federal government through December 20, 2019, while at the same time extending 29 other programs including the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. The President signed the CR shortly thereafter. Also known as the EB-5
Enterline and Partners successfully expedited an I-130 Petition for the spouse of a U.S. citizen in Ho Chi Minh City by directly filing the petition at the U.S. Consulate. The couple was married in Vietnam and had originally filed an I-130 Petition for Alien Relative through the USCIS lockbox. Because
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