I-829 service requirements are entirely predictable; the number I-829 filings is a function of the number of principal applicants admitted under the visa quota two years previously. A USCIS Public Engagement email last week said that: "We greatly appreciate all the feedback submitted and are actively reviewing the comments we received. Case remains Pending. During the RC program lapse, a majority of the reported "denied" I-526 were actually just withdrawn I-526, but the Q3 denials are largely denials. ) How far does that put us from expecting two-year I-526 processing times? It could also reduce the EB-5 backlog by about 64%. Case remains Pending | Lawfully. 54 years) to clear the inventory and reach my petition, if I file I-526 today and IPO does not improve on recent processing productivity. Contrary to popular belief, EB-5 investment does not purchase a green card. Last but not least, you can now change your visuals before heading into an emoji fight: Another glorious Telegram update is coming in a week or two, so STAY TUNED! "Reserved Visa Rules, Possible Future Visa Allocation, and Recommendations" by Barnett, Oppenheim, and Lee (also a blog post). The guy will be wise to consider factors such as these, in addition to the current gate announcement, when calculating his potential wait to get a seat on the plane. Thus pending applicants from any one country can only expect up to 7% of the 68% unreserved EB-5 visas (with "otherwise unused" unreserved numbers going to the oldest priority dates i. Chinese).
A No discussion, ONLY EB GC APPROVAL MESSAGES, - Primary GC Derivative Pending, - Derivative file pending, - Case Remains Pending (CRP) After GC. Or would face that wait, except that it exceeds what many applicants (not to mention their RCs, projects, and investments) can practically bear, predictably leading to many queue-shortening drop-outs/failures. Updated with additional information from the Justice Department and Williams statement. However, even RFE issuance has been falling in recent months, even as direct I-526 receipts keep coming in. When living in Turkey, Aishan reportedly provided translation assistance to other Uyghurs in exile and helped collect testimonies on human rights violations in Xinjiang. Morocco: Uyghur Activist at Risk of Extradition. I-526 adjudication volume was extremely low after 4th of July: only 48 decisions and 77 notices in 21 working days – in other words, fewer than 6 total actions per day on average, and just over 2 decisions per day on average. But regardless of goals, actual performance is constrained by staffing (which doesn't change quickly) and by decisions about processing order (which can only improve appearances by manipulating the median, and provide faster times for some at the cost of slower times for others). A two-year processing time is still too long, but would be far closer to adequate than the six years promised by current performance. On the following I-526 table, note the number and timing of I-526 filings from countries other than China. And it's necessary to apply that to control number use under the respective limits. If only USCIS would report timely and category/country-specific I-526 filing data, then we could project and compare in-process visa demand with available visa supply to calculate availability/timing for each EB-5 category.
Without country caps, applicants from all countries except China with pre-2022 priority dates who don't already have a visa by FY2025 could wait until 2032 before they can start getting visas. That case remains ongoing, pending a decision in the motion to dismiss. I-526 and I-829 Receipt and Processing Data. I have not been told yet how the I-526 inventory divides between direct and regional center cases, but by historical averages it's possible that only about 1, 000 direct I-526 remain to be adjudicated. Or did many Indians get lucky just because they happened to be in the US, unlike most Chinese and Vietnamese EB-5 applicants with earlier priority dates? Case remains pending telegram group members. I had wondered what DOS would do with a new EB-5 carryover law that contradicted another part of the INA. If indeed EB-5 I-485 are all ultimately forwarded to the California Service Center for adjudication, how about reconsidering that decision in light of recent performance? Q: I still don't understand CRP. As it turned out, a global pandemic intervened and prevented Department of State from actually issuing the number of visas anticipated for FY2020. Good actors will be empowered to plan well based on good information about the immigration process and success factors.
But overall, processing is evidently not first-in-first out. Q: Is CRP a required step before getting approval? Thus the idea of setting aside 3, 000 visas in categories reserved for new TEA applicants.
Instead, here's what's happened with I-526 adjudications since June 30, 2021 according to my leaker friend: July, 45 I-526 approved; August, 15 I-526 approved; September, 15 I-526 approved; October to date, 7 I-526 approved. Part 4: Application. More investors do not fit within visa availability. Data on EB-5 form processing has disappointed my hopes so far. EB5IC and the China-focused EB-5 investor advocacy organizations are not offering any public engagement so far as I know, but I'll update this list if I hear anything new. If you're a Congressperson or journalist hungry to be the hero who tackles a hot scandal that's tying up billions of dollars and endangering thousands of job-creating projects and inviting fraud, the USCIS Investor Program Office is red meat ready for you. Current DHS and USCIS leadership recognize and deplore the agency-wide problems, which is encouraging. What's not clear: are any of those these reserved visas theoretically or practically available to the 80, 000+ people in the EB-5 visa backlog, who are coded C5, T5, I5, and R5 under the now-abolished RC and TEA set-aside categories? Group Permissions, Undo Delete and More. The process for I-526 approvals getting transferred to NVC continues to be problematic. Mandamus litigation has offered hope to combat the EB-5 processing slowdown since 2018. In recent years, China has increasingly used the Interpol red notice system to stifle dissent. This PDF from October 2018 was the last detailed per-country inventory breakdown published by USCIS.
Think about the analogous situation of gate announcements in the airport, and what such announcements mean for people who are not yet checked in and through airport security. Chinese applicants particularly suffered from the regional center program expiration putting a stop to regional center visa issuance from July 2021. There's every reason for I-829 productivity to improve. See INA section 216(c)(3)(A)(ii), 8 U. C. 1186b (c)(3)(A)(ii). They want an answer much closer to one year than 54 years. Case remains pending telegram group website. I want to take a Christmas vacation too, but this doesn't look good for an office with over 200 EB-5-fee-funded employees. As a side note, see minute 36 of the Chat with Charlie linked above for a brief comment in response to my question about why, despite "current" Chart B for I5 and R5, NVC has been emailing regional center applicants that it "will not act on any new or pending EB-5 visa petitions as described above until further notice. However, will USCIS go on to approve I-526 filed today at the $500, 000 level? I-829 are not subject to filing surges, since the volume of I-829 filings is limited by the quota limit on visas issued two years previously. FY2022 offers massive extra supply (thanks to roll-over from unused family-based numbers last year) but we're held back from using it. There are questions about the status of previously-approved regional centers and their investors, ongoing processing issues, and the prospect of new legislation to change everyone's visa wait times.
Lawmakers may assume that by making about 10, 000 EB-5 visas available, they have incentivized about 10, 000 EB-5 investments annually. In the meantime, I'll suggest a reading list of articles from other sources, followed by a comment on the October 2022 visa bulletin. EB-5 lawyers agree that the June 22 court win did indeed return the EB-5 investment amounts to $500, 000 or $1 million in a State-designated TEA, and that I-526 can be filed at this level so long as the June 22 change still applies. Maybe it was written by people who ignored the existing law conflicts on purpose, gambling that Department of State might choose to settle the conflict in favor of EB-5, start allowing a limited amount of EB-5 visa recapture for the first time in history, and start letting the EB-5 annual limit exceed its statutory maximum 7. There never were over 7, 000 non-regional center or over 7, 000 non-TEA investors ready to request visas in a year, and thus no one ever ran up against the old set-aside limits. Filing I-526 does not lock in access to a visa. On the other hand, if IPO does improve and quickly returns to processing over 4, 000 I-526 per quarter (as they did in the recent past and could do again), then the I-526 processing time estimate equation for a new I-526 becomes 13, 132/4, 000=3 quarters (i. less than one year). For EB-5 to become a stable program, that needs to change. Telegram surrendered says data to authorities. The Federal Register has re-opened opportunity to comment on the new regional center forms I-956, I-956F, I-956G, and I-956K. When the regional center program lapsed, thus temporarily reducing the I-526 processing workload by at least 90% and eliminating the I-924 and RC compliance workloads, I expected a silver lining in the form of more resources for direct EB-5 and I-829. The Investor Program Office and EB-5 processing have not shown improvements yet.
But my first priority is articles on the new law and how reserved visas will affect the China backlog. Since May 2022, the Investor Program Office has stabilized into a new stride of 100-140 decisions per month each for I-526 and I-829, with decisions spanning a wide range of filing dates. This is a great chance to submit your view on the application/implementation of regional center requirements, because a responsible person at DHS is compelled to actually read and respond to each comment made through the regulatory process. This timeline was created with the Lawfully App. So far, the official USCIS Immigration and Citizenship Data page reinforces what my leak says: that productivity at the Investor Program office has still not improved under the Biden administration, and in fact has gotten worse for I-829 as well as I-526 through June 2021 — according to the FY2021 Q3 update. Adjudications will be based on transparent standards, and will have a predictable timeline. Quoted from minute 58] Joseph Barnett: Can I try to paraphrase what you mentioned before, Charlie, and let me know if I'm getting this right here. As I look at these numbers, here's what strikes me as significant. Backlogged Chinese applicants – the oldest applicants and thus at the head of the line for any leftover visas — have gotten as many as over 8, 000 EB-5 visas per year (back in FY2015 when EB-5 interest had not diversified), and at least over 4, 300 visas per year (in FY2018 and FY2019, even after a demand increase from the rest of the world). Most rural reserves are therefore effectively off the table for the backlog even if DOS decides that past rural applicants could theoretically qualify for rural reserves. I hear the I-485 questions but I don't know how to answer them. 2022 was naturally confusing for the Visa Office, which had to deal with a mid-year law change and leadership change.
I'm not surprised, considering that Q3 was the first quarter under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act. FY2022 was similar to previous years in terms of countries claiming the most EB-5 visas. Many stakeholder questions about ambiguities were met with the response "USCIS may consider rulemaking to address these issues. She also stated that "I firmly believe that every applicant who seeks a benefit from USCIS is entitled to a timely decision – be it a yes or no. The cap limits any one country to 7% of visas within that category until other countries' demand under the 7% limit has been satisfied. 8 introduces support for automatically downloading files and music and choosing input and output devices for Telegram Calls. As it is, the law and situation that exists when you commit to the EB-5 process guarantees nothing for visa availability; people are dependent on the visas that exist and the rules for allocating them once they finally reach the visa stage.