Conversation with Director Mayorkas

Today’s Conversation with Director Mayorkas proved to be very interesting. I liked the forum — an open conversation with 25 attendees chosen on a first-come-first-serve basis. We heard some familiar voices and familiar soapboxing, but generally the meeting format allowed for genuine discussion and for extended follow-up and interaction on important issues. Director Mayorkas once again came out looking good — knowledgeable about the program, pro-active, serious, sympathetic, and sensible. No issues were resolved in the context of this discussion, but a few noteworthy items:

• The Director chose to make EB-5 the topic of his first “Conversation” because it is of high importance to the country and a high priority for USCIS.
• “Premium processing” for EB-5 is a goal that will take a lot of time to implement (involving creation of new forms, OMB clearance, and a Federal Registry posting). This process is being accelerated as much as possible, and in the meantime the Director is taking steps for more immediate improvement through seeking ways to expedite processing outside of premium processing. These steps include implementing direct communication with adjudicators, hiring new staff including an economist and business analysts, and gathering input from the community on current problems for use in training adjudicators.
• USCIS will provide a response to the AILA EB-5 Committee questions “as fast as possible,” but this will take time. The Director noted that there isn’t unanimity on these issues even among EB-5 stakeholders present.
• USCIS is finalizing a revised “overarching” policy memo that will address issues that have arisen over previous memos and incorporate feedback and questions from stakeholders at this and future meetings. Items addressed will include the issue of child protection for EB-5 investor dependents in case I-526 has to be refiled.
• USCIS is changing the formula for calculating the I-526 and I-829 processing times so that they better reflect actual average times (time to completion rather than just time to the adjudicator’s desk).

Most of the meeting time was given to participants and their opinions and suggestions. The group united in calling for increased consistency, and divided on whether USCIS should be more or less vigilant. Here are a few minutes of audio from what I consider a highlight of the call, including the most thrilling for-against more regulation exchange and the best organizational suggestion (from about 24 minutes in):