USCIS Announces New Filing Location for all EB-5 Petitions

All EB-5 related filings is to be filed at CSC only.

Submit all new EB-5 petitions and regional center application materials to:

For Direct Mail (i.e. USPS):

USCIS California Service Center
ATTN: EB-5 Processing Unit
P.O. Box 10526
Laguna Niguel, CA 92607-0526

For private couriers (FedEx, etcetera):

USCIS California Service Center
ATTN: EB-5 Processing Unit
24000 Avila Road, Room, 2nd Floor.
Laguna Niguel, CA 92677

USCIS Revises Direct Mail Program for the Application for Naturalization (Form N-400)

Starting January 22, 2009, USCIS will require Form N-400 (Naturalization Application) to be mailed to the appropriate lockbox locations.

Military applications for naturalization (also by spouses) should still be submitted to the Nebraska Service Center.

If you reside in California the following address applies for your N-400 starting January 22, 2009:

USCIS Lockbox Facility
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
P.O. Box 21251
Phoenix, AZ 85036

Courier and Express Mail Deliveries
USCIS, Attn: N-400
1820 E. Skyharbor Circle S. Floor 1
Phoenix, AZ 85036

For the complete press release from USCIS, please click here.

F-1 Students: How to Apply for Reinstatement

It seems appropriate that we address school issues right around now with finals finishing up at most places.   If one is attending school on an F-1 visa here in the US, the school must keep track of the foreign student’s status on SEVIS.

What happens if stops going to class?  Essentially that means one has fallen out of status.

If a foreign student falls out of status, the student must request reinstatement within five months of whatever event triggered the falling out of status.  If one doesn’t do so within the five months, that can be forgiven assuming it was due to exceptional circumstances and the student filed for reinstatement as soon as those exceptional circumstances permitted the student to do so.

The F-1 student must apply for reinstatement while in the US to the USCIS office having jurisdiction.  The student submits should submit:

1)  A form I-539

2) SEVIS Form I-20 from the school of intended enrollment

3) All necessary documentation that the student’s status violations were beyond the student’s control (which includes serious illness or injury, natural disaster, etcetera).

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Of course, the USCIS frowns upon repeated or willful violations — meaning that the reinstatement should really be a one shot deal

I have to emphasize how important it is to work with the school’s designated officer in all cases involving one’s F-1 visa.

Visa Bulletin January 2009

The new visa bulletin for January 2009 is now available.

As far as the employment based visas go, there hasn’t been any significant change since the last bulletin.  Some of the dates have moved forward a month or so.  There has been no retrogression.

The “Other Workers” category date is now March 15, 2003.

Please click here for the full bulletin.

EB-5 (One Million Dollar Investment Visa or $500K)

Investors are able to obtain permanent residency (greencard) via the EB-5 Immigrant Visa.   This isn’t to be confused with an E-1/E-2 Trader/Investor Visa, which is a non-immigrant visa (temporary).

Generally, the EB-5 Investor Visa requires two things:

1.  An active investment of $1,000,000 (one million dollars) into a commercial enterprise

AND

2.  Create 10 full time jobs for US citizens or LPR (permanent residents)

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The above description is VERY broad, but describes what one needs for an EB-5 visa.

The minimum investment can be lowered to half the amount, $500,000 (five hundred thousand dollars) if the investment is directed toward a “targeted employment area,” which is an area that has experienced unemployment of at least 150 per cent of the national average.

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Oftentimes, investors are directed towards an officially designated “Regional Center” — which essentially takes an investor’s funds and directs it in conformity with the EB-5 program.  As I’ve noted before, the program has been temporarily extended.  There is hope that the new administration will expand the Regional Center further.  But more on that later.

Skilled Immigrants and “Brain waste”

The Los Angeles Times discusses the issues that face educated immigrants who are “under-employed” when they arrive in the United States.   A study reveals that approximately 1.3 million college educated immigrants are in low-level jobs or unemployed because their foreign credentials are not recognized here in the United States — thereby creating a brain waste.

Click here for the article.

Visa Bulletin December 2008

December 2008 VISA BULLETIN

The above photo is a departure from our normal “bulletin” photo.  I just returned from a trip to China, which was fantastic.  I highly recommend people to check out China — a week in Shanghai and a week in Beijing.

The only thing about the December 2008 Visa Bulletin that you should know, in regards to the employment visa availability, is that it’s exactly the same as the November 2008 Bulletin.

November 2008 Visa Bulletin

The November 2008 Visa Bulletin.

EB-5 Investor Visa Regional Center Pilot Program Update

The EB-5 Regional Center Pilot Program has been extended until March 6, 2009 (yes, that’s next year). Presumably,further extensions (or a permanent one) would be taken up by the next administration. The extension was part of HR 2638 that also extended the E-Verify program. Without the extension, then the Regional Center Pilot program would have sunset at the end of October this year.

Just to recap very quickly, it should be noted that the EB-5 Visa is one that allows one to earn permanent residency (green card) via an investment of $1 million (or $500,000 if certain criteria are met — i.e., high unemployment area) and creation of 10 new full time jobs. Spouses and unmarried children are allowed to join the investor.

The EB-5 should not be mistaken for an E-2/E-1 Treaty Investor/Trader Visa, which is a temporary visa and does not have a minimum investment amount (although it still requires a substantial infusion of capital).

The EB-5 Regional Centers are entities that are set up by a third party, that allows the prospective foreign national to invest $500,000 (in an economically depressed area in the US), but not have to be involved in the oversight of the investment nor the job creation. The EB-5 Regional Center personnel are set up to create 10 new jobs on behalf of the investor and are involved in the day to day operations of the whatever investment vehicle that they are overseeing. The idea is to create a one-stop shop for your EB-5 Visa, without the challenges of running one’s own EB-5 enterprise.

One important thing to keep in mind is that the initial grant of residency is conditional. Sixty days prior to the two year anniversary, one must file an I-829 to remove the conditions to become a lawful permanent resident.

October 2008 Visa Bulletin

Where has all the time gone?  It’s already time for a new visa bulletin.

Click Here For The October 2008 Visa Bulletin

As expected, the third category of employment visas (“Skilled Workers + Other Worker”) category became available once more.