On March 23, 2018, Congress approved a spending package and Trump signed the continuing resolution that extends the EB-5 program until September 30, 2018. This extension means that the EB-5 Regional Center Program will remain "as-is", including the investment amounts of $500,000 for Targeted Employment Areas (TEAs). However, as we last reported in January 2018, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has prepared new rules that include drastic changes to the EB-5 Program, including a substantial increase in the investment amount, potentially to $1.35 for TEA areas, new Integrity Measures and changes to the TEA definition. This rule was scheduled to be enacted in April 2018 with a grace pe
On March 23, 2018, Simone Williams was a speaker on a panel about global partnership, business development and international investment between Africa and the U.S. at the Africa Women Forum in New York City. The event made the front page of Nigeria’s national newspaper, This Day!! On March 24, 2018, Ms. Williams was a speaker on a panel titled “Navigating Immigration Issues in this Political Climate” at the Barbados Embassy in Washington DC.
During the week of April 2, 2018, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) was accepting H-1B cap subject petitions for the fiscal year (FY) 2019. While it is yet unknown how many petitions were received during last week, USCIS announced last Friday that it has reached the congressionally-mandated cap of 85,000 petitions. Similar to last year, USCIS temporarily suspended the premium processing for all H-1B cap subject petitions -- both regular cap (foreign nationals with bachelor’s degrees) and master’s cap (foreign nationals with U.S. master’s degree). The suspension is expected to last until September 10, 2018. During this time, USCIS will continue to accept premium process
The Department of State is seeking Office of Management and Budget approval to update the immigrant and nonimmigrant forms with a set of new questions. If approved, the forms would require applicants to submit details of all previous phone numbers, e-mail addresses, as well as social media handles, which they used for the past 5 years preceding the date of application. In addition, the forms may include questions about international travel history, as well as whether the visa applicant was ever deported or removed from any country. If implemented, the new rule would affect about 710,000 immigrant and 14 million non-immigrant visa applicants. The State Department says it will collect this in
On March 5, 2018, members of the U.S. Congress submitted a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) requesting the DHS to reconsider its decision to revoke eligibility for employment authorization for certain H-4 dependent spouses of H-1B workers under 1615-AC15, Removing H-4 dependent Spouses from the Class of Aliens Eligible for Employment Authorization. According to the Congress members, revoking the eligibility creates significant financial hardship for the H-1B workers and their families. Not only are the H-4 spouses unable to pursue their own professional goals, but they also cannot contribute financially to their family. This creates an extreme hardship for a family wh
On March 22, 2018, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) launched a pilot to test a redesigned processing times webpage that displays the data for all forms in an easier-to-read format. The pilot tests four forms using a new automated methodology for calculating processing times. The four forms are: - Form N-400, Application for Naturalization; - Form I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card; - Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status; and - Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence. For the four pilot forms, the information on the webpage reflects a new methodology for collecting and calculating processing times. The
