Articles Posted in Immigrant Visas

The Department of State, Office of Visa Services, advises the public of a notable increase in fraudulent emails and letters sent to Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV) program (Visa Lottery) applicants. The scammers behind these fraudulent emails and letters are posing as the U.S. government in an attempt to extract payment from DV applicants. While the DV lottery is a genuine U.S. government program, it is important to know enough about the DV lottery to protect oneself from fraud.

Please note: (1) the DOS does not charge any fees for participation in the lottery program and (2) they also do not advise “winners” (those selected to apply for legal permanent residence) by email. Notification is made by letter only. A genuine notification carries the personal data of the applicant. It does not include blanket requests for basic personal information. Fraudulent notifications sometimes ask for such information.

The DV lottery has an application procedure for participants. If one has not submitted this application through the DOS WebSite, within the established timeframes, one cannot be selected. The DOS does not select individuals at random for this benefit. Fraudulent winner notifications are sometimes received by individuals who have not even applied for the DV lottery.

This may not be a big issue but worth reporting. Some of our clients have received information from USCIS that interview appointments are scheduled at the National Benefits Center (NBC). If you receive an I-797 Interview Appointment Notice, e-mail, or update from Case Status Online indicating that an interview is at NBC, please contact the NCSC at 1-800-375-5283 , or contact your local office, to request the correct USCIS location of the interview.

NBC is located in Lee’s Summit, MO, and is not open to the general public. Interviews are not conducted at NBC. An interview will be held at the local office that has jurisdiction over the case.

In Marriage-Based Green Card interviews, which are conducted in USCIS District and Field Offices only, Adjudications Officers set out to determine whether the applicant’s marriage to a U.S. Citizen is a legitimate one. A legitimate marriage is a marriage that was not entered into for the purpose of evading immigration law. USCIS is required to focus on whether, at the time the marriage was entered into, the bride and groom intended to establish a life together.

Here is an interesting update for our marriage cases readers. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced the creation of a new employment authorization document (EAD) which also serves as an advance parole (AP) travel permit.

The new card will be available for persons who concurrently file an I-765 application for an EAD and an I-131 application for an AP with their I-485 adjustment of status application in the final stage of the permanent residence process.

The card will be valid for either one or two years, depending on whether the applicant’s immigrant visa preference category is retrogressed. The card will look identical to the current EAD but will have an annotation that states “Serves as I-512 Advance Parole.” Notably, if an applicant only applies for an EAD or an AP, USCIS will issue the legacy version of the EAD or AP. The new card will continue to be a valid List A document for I-9 purposes.

The Department of State released the new visa bulletin for March 2011 (http://travel.state.gov/visa/bulletin/bulletin_5337.html) on February 11, 2011.

Employment Based Visa Bulletin for the month of March 2011:

The EB-1 category is current for both Chinese and Indian nationals. In the EB-2 category, the cut-off dates moved forward 7 days for Chinese nationals (from July 1, 2006 to July 8, 2006), and still remained unchanged for Indian nationals (May 8, 2006). In the EB-3 category, the cut-off dates moved forward from January 1, 2004 to January 22, 2004 for Chinese nationals and moved forward from February 22, 2002 to March 15, 2002 for Indian nationals.

Here is an important update for our readers. Many applicants are reporting sever delays with I-130 applications for Immediate Relative cases.

In November 2010, USCIS transferred approximately 36,000 Immediate Relative petitions from

the California Service Center to the Texas Service Center. They anticipated that this redistribution

The following is new information regarding the ability to schedule a waiver appointment for an immigrant visa in Mexico. The information from the Consulate in Ciudad Juarez States:

Please be advised that as of January 10, 2011, the procedure to request a waiver appointment has changed. Applicants can make the appointment through the following website http://mexico.usvisa-info.com. They will need to log onto the website using their Passport Number, Date of Birth and Nationality. When prompted to select a Trip Purpose, they will need to choose “Immigrant IV Waiver” to schedule the appointment.

Alternatively, Applicants can schedule their waiver appointment by contacting the Visa Information Service at any of the numbers provided in the following link: http://www.usvisa-info.com/en-MX/selfservice/us_service_options.

The EB5 immigrant investor visa has quickly become one of the most positive and popular visa programs and path to a Green Card Visa the United States has ever conceived. Since its creation as part of the Immigration Act of 1990, the visa has risen from obscurity to become a darling of pro-immigration discourse.

This is an update about Indirect Job Creation. These are the jobs held by persons who work outside the newly established commercial enterprise. For example, indirect jobs include employees of the producers of materials, equipment, and services that are used by the commercial enterprise.

According to the update presented below, USCIS interprets the law to require that a regional center focus its EB-5 capital investment activities on a single, contiguous area within the geographic jurisdiction requested by the regional center. USCIS agree that the law does not further mandate that all indirect job creation attributable to a regional center take place within that jurisdiction. USCIS will ensure that its policy reflects this understanding of the law.

This great summary is provided by AILA with the guidance of Tammy Fox-Isicoff. The EB5 program is of great interest to many applicants, especially those with the means to participate. he EB-5, Green Card through investment, was created to promote investments in businesses and to create and preserve jobs in the U.S. You can become a lawful permanent resident by establishing a new commercial enterprise and provide full-time employment to at least ten U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents, or other immigrants with employment authorization.

Under section 203(b)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(5), 10,000 immigrant visas per year are available to qualified individuals seeking permanent resident status on the basis of their engagement in a new commercial enterprise.

Of these 10,000 visas, 5,000 are set aside for those who apply under a pilot program involving a CIS-designated “Regional Center.”
What is a Regional Center (RC)?

A RC is a proposed business venture often located in a targeted unemployment area supported by an econometric model based on a business plan forecasting indirect and/or direct job creation. Normally, RCs are located in areas of high unemployment or rural areas and require a $500,000 investment. However, some RCs are not located in targeted employment areas and therefore require investments of $1,000,000. An investor in an RC is not required to be actively involved in the management of the investment as long as the investor is a limited partner under the Uniform Limited Partnership Act. An RC normally structures one or more new commercial enterprises (NCE) that receive capital from investors to engage in direct or indirect job creation project or projects.

What does RC designation by USCIS mean?

It means that USCIS has reviewed the proposed business plan, any accompanying econometric model, location, and proposed job creation and has determined that the proposed business plan meets the requirements of The Immigrant Investor Pilot Program, created by Section 610 of Public Law 102-395 on October 6, 1992.

Are all RCs that have received designation from USCIS operational?

No, actually only a small percent of designated RCs are operational and have been the basis for approved I-526 Immigrant Petitions by Alien Entrepreneur. Even a smaller percentage have approved I-829 Petitions to Remove Conditions on Residence.

Is USCIS required to conduct background checks on RC managers or directors?

No.

Does USCIS monitor the performance of RCs?

No. USCIS has sent out questionnaires to RCs, but it is not clear at this time what USCIS is doing with the information obtained from the questionnaires.

Does USCIS publish a list of operational RCs and those with approved I-526 and I- 829 petitions?

While USCIS does publish a list of designated RCs, it does not publish which RCs are operational or which RCs have approved or denied I-526 and/or I-829 petitions.

If an RC is designated by USCIS, are all NCEs formed in the RC automatically
approved?

No, each NCE within the RC must meet the requirements of the requisite investment amount and job creation. If the NCE will be investing in another business, that business must meet the requisite employment creation.

Is there a process whereby USCIS provides pre-approval of an NCE within an RC?

Yes. USCIS has recently created a pre-approval process. However, this process is not taken advantage of by many RCs as the time to obtain pre-approval of an NCE can be extensive, inordinately delaying the NCE from receiving funds from investors. The preapproval process is so new that it has not been adequately time tested.

If USCIS has approved a number of I-526 petitions for an NCE or pre-approved an NCE is it a guarantee that future petitions for the same NCE will also be approved?

No. USCIS will always examine the source and path of funds of the individual investor and failure to carefully document this can result in the denial of the I-526 petition. More baffling is that on frequent occasions, USCIS has raised questions pertaining to NCEs that have a long track record of approvals, and USCIS can also raise questions pertaining to NCEs that have been pre-approved. USCIS has also raised questions concerning an NCE’s qualifications after approving an I-526, at the I-829 stage. Thus, prior approvals for the same NCE, pre-approval of an exemplar petition for an NCE and even the approval of an investor’s I-526 for a particular NCE, does not mean that the NCE will not be further scrutinized by USCIS.

What happens to an investor who invests in an NCE that never gets off the ground?

The initial I-526 petition may be approved based on the business plan and supporting documents, but the I-829 petition to remove conditions on residence will be denied.

If either the I- 526 or I- 829 is denied, will the invested funds be returned to the
investor?

This depends to some extent on the agreement between the investor and the RC. Some RCs hold funds in escrow pending approval of the I-526. Others do not. At the I-829 stage, it is doubtful that funds will be returned if the I-829 is denied as the funds must have been placed at risk in order for the I-526 to be approved in the first place. See Matter of Izumii, 22 I&N Dec. 169 (Assoc. Comm. 1998). The RC cannot provide any guarantee of the return of the invested funds if the I-829 is denied.

What happens to an investor if the I-829 is denied by USCIS?

The investor can renew the I-829 in removal proceedings before an immigration judge. If the I-829 is denied by the judge, the investor can appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals and to federal court. If the investor does not prevail, the investor can be deported.

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Department of State Visa Office provided explanation of its monthly determination of employment preference cut-of dates and data used in determining employment based cut-off dates for December 2010.

Each month, the State Department subdivides the annual preference and foreign state limitations specified by the Immigration and Nationality Act into monthly allotments based on totals of documentarily qualified Immigrant Visa applicants reported at consular posts and Immigration Offices, grouped by foreign state chargeability, preference category, and priority date.

If there are sufficient numbers in a category to satisfy all reported documentarily qualified demand, the category is considered “Current.” For example: If the monthly allocation target is 3,000 and there is only demand for 1,000, the category will be “Current”. Whenever the total of documentarily qualified applicants in a category exceeds the supply of numbers available for the particular month, the category is “oversubscribed” and a visa availability cut-off date is established. The cut-off date is the priority date of the first documentarily qualified applicant who could not be accommodated for a visa number.

This is an important update for all Religious Workers filing for Permanent Residency. On October 13, 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a mandate overturning the permanent injunction ordered by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington allowing special immigrant religious workers to file their Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, concurrently with the organizations’ Form I-360.

Effects on Religious Workers

As of November 8, 2010, USCIS will no longer accept any I-485 applications, as well as Applications for Employment Authorization (Form I-765), and/or Applications for Travel Document (Form I-131), filed concurrently with or filed based on pending I-360 petitions from individuals seeking classification as special immigrant religious workers.