The Immigrant Investor Blog

Senator Rand Paul Seeks Congressional Action to Halt EB-5 Program Changes

David Spaulding

As we previously discussed, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) proposed substantial changes to the EB-5 regulations on July 24, 2019. The “EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program Modernization Rule” is scheduled for implementation on November 21, 2019. It appears that the Administration will apply the rule, as written, unless Congress acts to stop it. Learn more.

Matthew Galati Quoted in Bloomberg Law Article EB-5 Regulations at OMB

Matthew Galati

On Feb. 25, 2019, Matthew Galati, who leads Green and Spiegels U.S. Investors and Entrepreneurs Division, was quoted in “Immigrant Investor Visa to See Regulatory Changes Soon,” printed by Bloomberg ​Law. Read the full article here.

New EB-5 Regulations Expected Soon as USCIS Finalizes Rule and Sends Text to OMB

Matthew Galati

For over two years, we’ve extensively covered USCIS’ proposed EB-5 Modernization Rule. On Friday, February 22, USCIS formally completed its revisions to the proposed rule via the notice and comment process, sending its draft of the Final Rule to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). There is no published timetable for OMB’s assessment and publishing of the Final Rule into the Federal Register. Learn more in this blog.

Employment-Based I-485s: Ability to Use the Earlier Date for Filing Charts May Come to a Close

Matthew Galati and Benjamin S. Green

Back in September, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) was allowing applicants to file their I-485 applications for adjustment of status in both the employment-based and the family-based categories according to the earlier-in-time Filing Date Charts. Put another way, USCIS has been accepting Form I-485 filings for all prospective qualifying immigrants before a visa number is technically available. Green and Spiegel has been filing our clients’ files in light of this change for months, however, it appears that this will shortly come to an end. Learn more here.

Government Shutdown: USCIS Still Accepting Investors’ I-526 Filings Despite Lapse

Matthew Galati

On Friday, December 21st, 2018, Congress adjourned without reaching an agreement on a government spending deal, resulting in a partial government shutdown. There were a number of sunsetting immigrant programs relying on Congress’s reauthorization by the midnight expiration deadline, including the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Regional Center Program.

PREMIUM PROCESSING FEE INCREASES BY ALMOST 15%

Andrew Clancy Rodgers

On August 31, 2018, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it would be increasing the premium processing filing fee from ...

USCIS Changes I-829 Receipt Procedure; Status Now Evidenced For 18 Months Instead of 12

Matthew Galati

USCIS today announced that investors filing Form I-829 to remove their conditions upon residency will now be issued receipt notices evidencing cont...

USCIS Provides Important I-829 Policy Update

Matthew Galati

Earlier this month, USCIS updated the EB-5 section of its Policy Manual with important I-829 Removal of Conditions-related instructions for officer...

Green and Spiegel’s Matthew Galati Co-Authors Article with CanAm’s Walter Gindin for EB-5 Investors Magazine

Matthew Galati

Manager of Green and Spiegel’s U.S. Investors and Entrepreneurs Division, Matthew Galati recently co-authored an article for EB-5 I...

Based on Geography, EB-1C Processing Times are Quite Lopsided

Matthew Galati

Processing times for the EB-1C immigrant visa classification vary greatly between service centers at present. This development has resulted in vast...

The Next EB-5 Stakeholder Meeting is on March 3. Here are the questions we would like to be answered…

Matthew Galati

On March 3, 2017, USCIS will have its first EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program Stakeholder engagement of the year. Of course, this engagement will als...

Checking the Current Temperature of the EB-5 Program

Matthew Galati

Today is Valentine’s Day, and we would be remiss to not mention our ongoing love for the EB-5 Program, a vital job creator for U.S. workers t...

Final International Entrepreneur Parole Rule Published, In Effect as of July 17, 2017

Matthew Galati and Jonathan Grode

Effective July 17, 2017, a new immigration-related option will be available for international entrepreneurs. The Department of Homeland Security ha...

"A New and Promising Immigration Tool For Entrepreneurs" Green and Spiegel Investor Team Published in Law360

Green and Spiegel Investor Team attorneys Matthew T. Galati and Jonathan A. Grode were published in Law360 on January 10, 2017. The team authored a...

USCIS Publishes Updated EB-5 Processing Times and Institutes a New Format

Andrew Clancy Rodgers

Just before the New Year, USCIS released updated processing time reports, with processing dates as of October 31, 2016, for a number of Service Cen...

The Israeli E-2 Visa is Finally Moving Forward

Matthew Galati

An important new source for foreign investment immigration is now about to take hold. News broke in the New Year that the Israeli government will f...

It Sure Looks Like New EB-5 Regulations are Coming in 2017 (Part 2)

Matthew Galati

In our earlier post, we discussed that USCIS is moving forward with what portends to be a major overhaul of the EB-5 regulations. As promised, we&r...

GANDSInvestors Submits Comment to Proposed International Entrepreneur Rule; Advocates for EB-5 Regulatory Reforms

This week, GANDSInvestors team members Jonathan Grode and Matthew Galati submitted a comment to USCIS’ Proposed Rule for International Entrep...

GAMECHANGER: USCIS Publishes Advance Version of Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for International Entrepreneurs

Matthew Galati

Today U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published an advance copy of their proposed new regulatory rule that would allow certain in...