Senate hearing, legislation, I-829 receipt notices (updated)
June 12, 2018 18 Comments
Senate Hearing
Mark your calendars for 10 am EST Tuesday, June 19, when Chairman Grassley will host a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with the provocative title Citizenship for Sale: Oversight of the EB-5 Investor Visa Program. So far the only announced witness is USCIS Director L. Francis Cissna. As background for the hearing, I recommend my 2015 post Immigrant investor program comparison, which explains how EB-5 fits in the continua of investor visa programs around the world, and the risks and challenges for government oversight inherent in the fact that it’s specifically not a “citizenship for sale” program.
Legislation
The House will reportedly vote next week on immigration legislation: Bob Goodlatte’s H.R. 4760 Securing America’s Future Act, and another to-be-announced bill dealing at minimum with DACA and border security. H.R. 4760 as written would not affect EB-5. (It covers DACA, border security, family reunification, and diversity visas, and proposes reallocating diversity visas to reduce backlogs in EB-1, EB-2, and EB-3 only.) The second bill (available in discussion draft) would affect EB-5 by removing the per-country limit on visa numbers for the EB-5 category. (This would be good news for backlogged China and bad news for all other countries, which would then share the burden of oversubscription equally with China.) In an apparent slight to EB-5, the discussion draft bill would increase total visa numbers for every EB category except EB-5.
I-829 Notices
And a nice email (followed up by another email with qualifications) for people facing long I-829 waits.
From: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services <uscis@public.govdelivery.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2018 9:02 AM
Subject: Update to Form I-797 Receipt Notices for Form I-751 and Form I-829As of June 11, 2018, petitioners who file Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence, or Form I-829, Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status, will receive a Form I-797 receipt notice that can be presented with their Form I-551, Permanent Resident Card, as evidence of continued status for 18 months past the expiration date on their Permanent Resident Card.
We are making the change from 12 to 18 months because current processing times for Form I-751 and Form I-829 have increased over the past year.
Additionally, we will issue new Form I-797 receipt notices to eligible conditional permanent residents whose Form I-751 or I-829 was still pending as of June 11, 2018. Those Form I-797 receipt notices will also serve as evidence of continued status for 18 months past the expiration date on petitioner’s Permanent Resident Card.
As a reminder, conditional permanent residents who plan to be outside of the United States for a year or more should apply for a reentry permit by filing Form I-131, Application for Travel Document, before leaving the country. Read more information on our Green Card webpage.
To learn more, visit our website.
From: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services <uscis@public.govdelivery.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2018 10:21 AM
Subject: Form I-751 Data Entry Delay at California Service CenterUSCIS’ California Service Center (CSC) is experiencing a delay in initial data entry for Form I-751, Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence. Since initial data entry has to be completed before a receipt notice can be issued, some petitioners and their dependents may experience a delay in receiving a receipt notice for a Form I-751 submitted to the CSC.
If you submitted a Form I-751 to the CSC in May 2018 and you have not received a receipt notice, do not file a duplicate Form I-751 unless you have received a rejection notice or have been instructed to do so by the CSC.
The CSC is working to complete data entry of these petitions by the end of June 2018, and will issue another web alert once initial data entry has returned to normal. Petitioners will receive a receipt notice once their data is entered into USCIS systems.
If your 2-year green card has expired, you should call the USCIS Contact Center at 1-800-375-5283 (TTY for people with hearing or speech disabilities: 1-800-767-1833). The USCIS Contact Center will setup an appointment for you and any eligible dependents at your local field office. If possible, bring evidence that you sent your Form I-751 via USPS or courier service, such as FedEx.
For more information, visit our website.
EB-5 Updates 
Wow, this is really a great news!
Any idea if H.R. 4760 removes per country limits for EB-1 through EB-5?
It does not.
I wonder what happens if they dont re-issue I829 receipt notices (highly likely scenario), will we still be able to get info pass extensions for that 6 months?
My infopass experience always gave me 1 year. I interpret that the they only re-issue the I829 receipt to the “eligible” applicants, “eligible” means those who filed I829 not yet exceed 18 months. I won’t get an re-issued receipt as I am already 27 months. How long you have been waiting?
I have been waiting 11 months so was just about to schedule infopass appointment, but i will now have to wait for the re-issued receipt. The delay is around 3 years now so the 18 months will make no difference really.
FYI I just updated the post with another email from USCIS about delayed receipt notices.
Thanks, does the receipt delay situation affect I829 processing? like me – I submitted my RFE response at the end of Jan and still waiting. I heard very seldom cases processed in the past months – late Feb, Mar, Apr. Processing getting normal step by step starting May – I guess? We can see from the Q2 processing report – I predict very low processing ratio in that quarter.
The 2nd notice you posted today is not purely I829? Other type also associated with I752.
Sorry for my typo – I mean I751
It only makes sense to extend the continued status to 3 years, to match the current processing time frame. After all, this waiting time is incredibly long and reform is needed on the USCIS side.
As average i-829 processing is stated as 29-35 months on uscis website what happens when the i-829 isnt adjudicated in the 18 months extensions period ? does the CR not get extended ?
Appreciate if Ms Suzzanne or someone in this forum can draft a common template for all of us to send emails to our Senators for including EB5 along with other employment visas while reallocating diversity visas.We all need to address the I-526 and I-829 processing inordinate delays by USCIS.
I was considering going down the E-5 route and setting up a $1million+ business, but from reading into recent developments, it’s looking less viable than I initially thought. My family and I were looking at moving around 2023 but that seems like nothing more than a pipe dream. I didn’t realise the backlog was so bad. Thanks you for sharing this information! 🙂
If you are not from China, Vietnam, India, or Brazil, I expect that you would get the the visa before 2023 (unless legislation changes the way that EB-5 visas are allocated). I-526 plus visa application/I-485 take less than 4 years for most people outside backlogged countries.
Is there any update on if USCIS has started sending out new receipt notices (with 18 month validity) to those whos I-829 are still pending….like they said they were going to?
Hi: I understand that EB-5 program could either expire or might have very different requirements (investment amount, number of jobs etc) come Sep 30th 2018 (or most likely, after that). My question is:
If I apply in the next 2 months (before the Sep 2018 deadline) & get my priority date (I-526 receipt), WILL I BE SUBJECT TO THE NEW REQUIREMENTS THAT USCIS / POLICY MAKERS MIGHT PUT IN PLACE? In other words, will the change be implemented retroactively?
If the EB-5 program expires in Sep 2018 (hypothetically speaking), people who already have the I-526 receipt / priority date should still be OK, right? No changing of the rules in the middle of the game!
Thanks,
The changes in the regulations would not be retroactive. For more discussion, see this FAQ: https://blog.lucidtext.com/washington-updates/#FAQ