In a letter dated June 11, 2019, Invest in the USA (IIUSA) expressed concerns to Ken Cuccinelli, Acting Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), about a “surge” in delays in processing immigrant petitions for alien entrepreneurs (Form I-526). IIUSA is an industry trade organization representing nearly 370 EB-5 stakeholder organizations.. The letter notes that based on the latest data on the USCIS website, the estimated processing time for I-526 completio

On July 24, 2019, Simone Williams, Founder and Managing Attorney of Williams Global Law, will be accepting the International Pioneer Award for her excellence in the field of immigration and international law. The award is being conferred by the International Law Section (ILS) of the National Bar Association (NBA), during the annual NBA Convention in New York City. The annual convention takes place from July 20 to 26, 2019 at the Sheraton Times Square hotel. The Award Recepti

On July 23, 2019, Simone Williams will be speaking on a CLE panel entitled, “Current Trends in Immigration Law” at the National Bar Association (NBA) Convention in New York City. The panel will take place at 12:15 pm at the Sheraton Times Square hotel in New York City, as part of the annual NBA Convention. The panel is part of the Sixth Annual International Law Section Forum. The National Bar Association (NBA) is hosting its 94th Annual Convention in New York City from Ju

On June 27, 2019, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) completed its review of the regulation entitled “EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program Modernization” (“EB-5 Modernization Rule”). This Rule changes the EB-5 Program in critical ways, including significantly increasing investment amounts to as high as 1.8 million. Now that OMB has completed its review, the next and final step for this regulation to become effective is that it must be published in the Federal Register. USC

The Visa Bulletin for July shows that there will be slowdowns or "retrogressions (visa unavailability) in several employment-based immigrant visa categories for individuals from India and Vietnam for example, before the end of the government's fiscal year. The government fiscal year ends on September 30th. Department of State’s Visa Bulletin for July 2019 includes the following notes: It has been necessary to retrogress the Mexico E4 and SR final action dates for July to kee

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that effective June 10, 2019, certain New Zealand nationals are now eligible for E-1 treaty trader or E-2 treaty investor visas. This means that New Zealand nationals now have enhanced access to pursue trade and investment activities in the United States. According to USCIS: Eligible New Zealand nationals already in the United States in lawful visa status can file a petition to request a change of status to E-1 or E-