|
|
January 13th, 2012 |
 Recently I heard a very sad story of a client, not a client of Which EB5 I have to say, who was rejected at the consular processing stage of their EB5 visa application.
Keep in mind that rejection at this stage typically means that your $500,000 is locked-up in your chosen regional center project for at least four years and you will soon see why experienced advice is necessary to avoid this issue.
The consular processing of your EB5 visa application comes after your I-526 is approved by the USCIS and before the US State Department actually issue your EB5 visa. This step is required if you are outside the USA when your petition is filed rather than adjustment of status if you are in the USA on an existing visa.
Many clients ask me questions about the consular interview process as they are, quite naturally, concerned about this “interview process”.
The clients of Which EB5 are fully briefed on what to expect at the consular interview by both myself and expert EB5 attorney Anthony Olson. It is important that when you head into the consular interview that you understand both the purpose and likely content of the questions you will be asked.
I tell my clients that in fact as long as they tell the truth, do not verbally or physically abuse the consulate officer they actually have nothing to worry about.
The story of the client that was rejected at the consular interview, the one I refer to above, (just a reminder that this was NOT a client of Which EB5) was apparently rejected for becoming verbally abusive. Now I don’t know the full details of what happened but you can be sure that this verbal abuse must have been quite extreme for the officer to finally deny the application.
The best general advice I can give to anyone facing the consular interview process is to tell the truth, keep calm and be very well prepared.
Clients of Which EB5 can get all the help they need to attend the consular interview with absolutely no concerns by having a free briefing session with expert EB5 consultants and attorneys.
To request all the EB5 visa information you need contact Which EB5 by email info@whicheb5.com or telephone +1-561-771-1330
|
| |
Tags: attorney, consular processing, EB5 Attorney, eb5 consultants, EB5 visa, regional center, USA
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
January 10th, 2012 |
 Recently I received a question from a potential EB5 client asking for information on how he might find a regional center that did not charge an administration fee.
My reply centered on the client’s motivation, aside from the obvious, to choose a regional center project based upon a lack of, or a very low, administration fee. The response I received intrigued me so I thought I should share it with our readers and offer some thoughts. Here is the client’s response:
“Where in official docs it is mentioned that investment beneficiaries can or may charge rather variable amounts for their admin fees?
I thought it goes without saying that the investment money makes it possible that all their needs are covered by investment itself”.
Whenever I see a question from an EB5 client that is confused it offers a chance to try to clear-up potential future confusion by offering a little commentary.
Keep in mind that the decision to charge an administration fee by the regional center is their decision alone. The USCIS do not have any involvement in the negotiation of these fees. The fees charged by a regional center for participation in one of their projects is typically governed by a) the regional centers want to recoup some of the costs of putting the project together, b) to offset some of the regional centers fees for legal documents, marketing and other expenses and c) market driven forces. i.e. the need to be competitive in the EB5 marketplace.
From feedback of previous clients, I can say that I have never heard from anyone that they were going to use the amount of an administration fee (or the total lack thereof) as criteria for the choice of regional center project.
Typical administration fees charged by EB5 regional centers range from $35,000 to $60,000. Keep in mind that in addition to these fees you will incur legal fees of your own for filing of your I-526 petition, consular processing or adjustment of status and filing of your I-829 petition to remove conditions (after approx.. two years). Legal fees do vary based upon your choice of EB5 attorney. It is imperative that you engaged an experienced EB5 attorney NOT simply an experienced immigration attorney.
More about this tomorrow when we discuss “Consular Processing” procedures and the need for expert advice before attending a consular interview.
+Stephen Parnell 
|
| |
Tags: consular processing, eb5, EB5 Attorney, regional center, uscis
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
October 21st, 2011 |
Today we are issuing a short but potentially important blog that will be of interest if you are currently considering the EB-5 visa.
The EB-5 regional center pilot program is due to end on September 30 2012. There has been talk of extending this program or even making it permanent and although we are cautiously optimistic, currently this has not happened.
Applications for this visa (I-526), are currently taking between six to eight months to be processed by the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Service). Although this time scale could come down, this is the current position.
Additionally, those applying for the visa from overseas have to complete Consular processing; this will add extra time to the process. How long depends upon the Consular office they are applying to.
Clarification is being sought as to whether Consular processing needs to be completed before the September cutoff date, or whether it can be completed afterwards.
For the latest information contact Chase Brodsky at Which EB-5
|
| |
Tags: consular processing, EB-5 Visa, I-526, pilot program, regional center, September 30 2012, uscis
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
March 10th, 2011 |
 Every potential B-5 investor and their family have their own requirements as to exactly when they wish to obtain their green cards and legally enter the USA. You will have your own idea of a target date.
You may need to sell your home and or business before beginning the process or you may wish to leave at a particular time that is best for your children’s education, everyone has their own priorities.
The actual application process, once you have decided on a regional center program, is really set by USCIS (The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service). Depending on USCIS workload applications have taken as little as three months and as long as nine months. You may also have to take into account the time for Consular processing which will vary depending on which country you live in.
A factor which can make a big difference to the time it takes can be the particular program you chose to invest in. To understand why this it is so critical we will take a look at examples of what can happen.
It will be seen from these examples that the choice of both the regional center, as well as the immigration attorney, can make a big difference to the time it takes you to obtain your visa. Choosing the most appropriate regional center program and attorney is extremely important.
In tomorrow’s blog we will look at two examples of mistakes made by EB-5 visa applicants.
|
| |
Tags: application, consular processing, eb-5, education, green card, investors, legally, regional center, USA, uscis, visa
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
January 12th, 2010 |
 How long is the EB5 immigration process? From start to finish, how long will it be before you receive your green card? Unfortunately, there is no definite answer to this question but we can give you some general estimates.
For the first phase—the regional center investment phase—the timeline should not be overly long. Usually this can be accomplished in a matter of two to eight weeks after your decision has been made as to which EB-5 center to invest in; however, every center’s timing and timeline will differ.
The real timing begins with your specialist EB5 immigration attorney submitting your I-526 to the USCIS. The general waiting time for USCIS review of I-526 petitions was previously six to eight months, but since USCIS increased its staff of examiners, it is now down to as little as one to six months.
Once that is approved and your attorney files the application for adjustment of status or for application consular processing of an immigrant visa you will have another waiting time of about six to twelve months for adjustment of status, or two to six months for consular processing. These time-lines vary enormously so please contact us for updated timetables at any time.
The grand total timeline after you submit your original I-526 application is between six and fifteen months. This is the estimated amount of time it will take for you to receive your conditional green card and take up residence in the United States – if you would like advice on what you need to take into account to obtain the quickest time please contact Which EB-5 via email at info@WhichEB5.com or through our website at www.WhichEB5.com
|
| |
Tags: consular processing, eb-5, green card, I-526, Immigration, immigration attorney, regional center, united states, uscis, visa, Which EB-5
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
January 7th, 2010 |
 Enrollment for this school year is only seven months away After conferring with a number of specialist EB-5 immigration attorneys we have calculated the current average times for I-526 approvals from the USCIS is about 3 months, with consular processing running at an additional 4-6 months. This is a total of 7 to 9 months before you can enter the USA using your EB-5 visa.
If you are planning to apply for the EB-5 visa and require approval in time for your children to start school/college in the USA at the start of the school year August 2010, you need to act now.
Some regional center programs, can for specific reasons, RFE’s – requests for further evidence etc, be faster than others.
If timing is important to you and you want your children to start school or you have children turning 21 in the next year please contact us urgently for further information info@WhichEB5.com
|
| |
Tags: consular processing, eb-5, eb5, I-526, immigration attorney, regional center, request for further evidence, USA, uscis, visa
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
