U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) held a teleconference on Wednesday, February 26, 2014 from 1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. EST to discuss the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. Attorney Jian Zhou joined the teleconference, as well as several colleagues.

Mr. Nicholas Colucci, Director of the USCIS Immigrant Investor Program Office, provided updates on the EB-5 program among others. According to our attorneys, some valuable information was shared to the stakeholders:

• The current processing time for an I-526 petition is around nine months; the processing time for I-924 petition is around 12 months.

• The office is being reorganized, presently there is a shortage of adjudication officers, however they are actively recruiting new officers, so the process time is expected to be longer in the near future.

• The USCIS California Service Center will forward Forms I-526 to be adjudicated at the new office in Washington D.C. from now on.

• In the beginning of FY 2013, 504 I-924 applications were in pending status, the USCIS approved 218 I-924s and denied 32 I-924s; 5018 I-526 applications were in pending status, the USCIS approved 3699 I-526s and denied 943 I-526s.

• USCIS’ is focusing more on issues of fraud and national interest in the EB-5 program and as such, USCIS has hired economists, law school graduates as well as some former information officers to investigate these issues.

• USCIS is also planning on coming out with a policy guidance manual and new EB-5 regulations to streamline the EB-5 adjudication process in the coming future.

In EB-5 category, we have successfully received several Regional Center designations and have successfully handled many EB-5 cases. If you plan to apply for an EB-5 visa, please contact Attorney Jerry Zhang at info@hooyou.com.

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Founded in 1996, Zhang & Associates, P.C. offers legal services to clients nationwide in all aspects of U.S immigration law. We have successfully handled thousands of immigration cases.

At Zhang & Associates, P.C., our attorneys and supporting professionals are committed to providing high-quality immigration and non-immigration visa services. We specialize in NIW, EB-1, PERM, and I-485 cases. In the past eighteen years, we have successfully helped thousands of clients get green cards. If you plan to apply for a green card, please send your CV to Attorney Jerry Zhang (info@hooyou.com) for a free evaluation.

Zhang & Associates, P.C.

Silicon Valley • New York • Los Angeles • Chicago • Houston • Austin • Seattle

Tel:	1-800-230-7040, 713-771-8433
Email:	info@hooyou.com
website:	http://www.hooyou.com

 

(02/28/2014)