Latest comprehensive news on Worldway's U.S. investment immigration: At approximately 2:50 PM on April 13, 2015 (U.S. time), Charles Oppenheim, Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division at the U.S. Department of State, announced at the IIUSA annual conference that starting May 1, 2015, EB-5 applicants born in mainland China will face visa retrogression. Mr. Oppenheim had actually hinted at this possibility as early as October 2014.
Subsequently, the U.S. Department of State updated the May Visa Bulletin, further confirming Mr. Oppenheim's statement regarding retrogression. EB-5 (Employment-Based Fifth Preference) investment immigration is now subject to retrogression, with a cut-off date of May 1, 2013. This means that applications filed after May 1, 2013, will enter the retrogression period starting in May 2015. At that time, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will only process EB-5 immigrant visa applications for mainland investors whose priority dates are before April 30, 2013. The waiting period is expected to be between 2 and 3 years, closer to 2 years.
Below is the latest Visa Bulletin for May. "C" means current, meaning that visas are available for all qualified applicants with no retrogression. "U" means unauthorized, meaning no visas are available. (Note: For categories with a cut-off date, visas are only available if the applicant's priority date is earlier than the cut-off date listed below).
The image above indicates:
1) The Cut-Off Date is May 1, 2013.
2) Only investors born in mainland China are affected. Applicants born in Hong Kong, Taiwan, or Macau are not affected.
*However, if the spouse of an EB-5 applicant was not born in mainland China, the investor may be treated as an applicant from their spouse's place of birth to avoid the impact of the mainland China retrogression.
How will retrogression affect the applications of EB-5 investors born in mainland China?
With the current EB-5 cut-off date set at May 1, 2013, all mainland applicants with a priority date later than May 1, 2013, cannot file for an immigrant visa interview at the Guangzhou Consulate (or file an I-485 application if the investor is within the United States) after their I-526 petition is approved. Applicants must wait until the cut-off date on the visa bulletin reaches their priority date before they can file their immigrant visa interview or adjustment of status application. This waiting period is commonly referred to as "retrogression." As mentioned above, the wait is expected to be between 2 and 3 years, closer to 2 years.
What are the benefits of applying early to secure a "priority date"?
The concept of a "priority date" has been mentioned several times. For EB-5 visas, the date USCIS receives the investor's I-526 petition is the investor's priority date. In the event of retrogression, this priority date determines the investor's position in the queue.
The U.S. Department of State uses the "priority date" to determine when an applicant can apply for an EB-5 visa at a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad, or file an adjustment of status application within the United States. The Department of State publishes a visa bulletin every month, allowing applicants to know whether their visa application can be processed based on their priority date.
Can I still continue to submit an I-526?
Yes, even with the occurrence of visa retrogression, you can still proceed with EB-5 investment immigration, submit an I-526 petition, and have it approved. Retrogression only means that after the I-526 petition is approved, the consulate interview or adjustment of status will be delayed; it does not affect the submission, processing, or approval of the I-526. However, retrogression does mean that it will take longer to enter the United States and obtain a conditional green card.
How should mainland EB-5 immigrant investors respond to the visa retrogression?
Getting in the line! It is recommended that children aged 18 or older apply independently! Children aged 16 or older who wish to apply for a green card with their parents must apply immediately; otherwise, it is very likely that the children will not be able to obtain immigrant status along with their parents. The immigration cycle will be significantly extended.
How can the issue of children "aging out" be resolved?
According to the U.S. Child Status Protection Act (CSPA), in the absence of retrogression, a child's age is frozen on the day USCIS receives the I-526 petition and does not increase. However, in the case of retrogression, although the child's age is frozen on the day USCIS receives the I-526, this age freeze only applies while waiting for the I-526 to be approved. Once the I-526 is approved, if the priority date has not yet been reached, the investor must wait until their priority date is current before filing the next step. During this waiting period for retrogression, the child's age is not frozen and will continue to increase. This situation may cause the child to "age out" and be unable to immigrate with the principal applicant (the parents). Therefore, if investors wish to bring their children, it is recommended to plan as early as possible and submit the I-526 petition when the children are 16 or even younger. If the child is already 18 or older, consider having the child act as the principal applicant and submit an I-526 petition independently.
What are the expectations for resolving the retrogression issue?
According to the latest Q1 2015 fiscal year approval report released by USCIS, the number of EB-5 investment immigration applicants for I-526 has increased by nearly 40% compared to the same period last year, and the cumulative number of pending applications has surged to 13,526, an increase of nearly 50% compared to the same period last year. If converted into family members, the current backlog will consume 30,000 to 40,000 EB-5 visas. Therefore, everyone hopes that the U.S. Department of State can change the annual quota from 10,000 applicants to 10,000 families, which might solve the retrogression problem. However, there has been no clear official response to this, so we can only wait and see.
Choosing a project with I-924 pre-approval means that, according to policy compliance, the I-526 stage will not re-examine documents already approved for the I-924, thereby saving review time (compared to normal processing times), which is beneficial for investors to actively cope with the EB-5 visa retrogression. However, the fundamental purpose of investor immigration is not to obtain a two-year conditional green card, but to obtain a U.S. permanent green card. Therefore, Worldway U.S. immigration experts remind investors that they must consider whether employment can be completed and whether the investment funds can be recovered.
Taking the Pennsylvania Turnpike Project Phase II as an example, it has an employment surplus of up to 4.368 times. It calculates employment positions based on construction expenditures rather than actual hiring, and this method has been approved by USCIS. The project has been under construction since 2012, and it has been 3 years since the project started. This means that the project has already created 3 years of employment calculations in advance, and these jobs are already created and waiting to be allocated to the Phase II EB-5 investors.
As a 100% government EB-5 project, the borrower of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Project Phase II, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, is a Pennsylvania government agency responsible for the construction, operation, and maintenance of the toll highway system within Pennsylvania. Because it is a government-monopolized operation, and Pennsylvania Act 44 grants the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission the power to set its own pricing and tolls, the Pennsylvania Turnpike project is not subject to market competition and has excellent cash flow and revenue stability. The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is also the largest and most active government bond issuer in Pennsylvania, and its senior revenue bonds are rated A1/A+/A+ by the three major rating agencies.
Worldway Immigration kindly reminds you: U.S. investment immigration retrogression is coming. When choosing an EB-5 project that has already been pre-approved by USCIS, investors should pay more attention to employment and repayment conditions, and avoid choosing projects blindly in a panic. Currently, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Project Phase II is in the final stages of promotion, and the remaining quota is limited. Please consult as soon as possible.
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