Congress and Immigration

Posted on September 8, 2015 by Arjun Mishra

Four Immigration Programs Will Expire September 30

Capitol Building

Congress returns from its summer recess today, and it is tasked with a litany of difficult decisions and issues. Part of its agenda over the next three weeks will be deciding whether to renew four immigration programs. Those include the EB-5 program, CONRAD 30, E-Verify, and the Religious Non-Ministers EB-4 program. Their vitality to the nation is probably dependent on perspective, but Congress is certain to discuss and contemplate these four programs, given the stakes involved.

The EB-5 program concerns millions of dollars of investment each year, especially now that the program has reached an apex in popularity. It is estimated that the program has generated over 5.2 billion dollars of investment and created 31,000 full time US jobs. One place this investment is going is to the renovation of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

CONRAD30 allows individual states’ health departments to hire up to 30 international medical graduate doctors, so that instead of having to fulfill their two year home residency requirement on the J-1 visa, they are sent to rural and underserved medical areas for three full years.

The blog will provide updates on the four programs throughout the month. Congress has 22 days from today to decide whether to renew these programs or to let them sunset. Bills have been proposed, covering all four programs (EB-5 bills, CONRAD30, E-Verify, EB-4 Religious Workers.

September 30, 2015 is an important date for another reason. The Department of Homeland Security is the federal agency tasked with overseeing immigration in the United States. A congressional, presidential, and political battle in March of this year threatened a de-funding of the agency, but a last minute bill funded the agency until the end of the fiscal year (September 30). The prospect of a government shutdown may yet loom again.

Immigration Programs Expiring

Posted on August 31, 2015 by Arjun Mishra

Four Immigration Programs Expire Next Month

This week, we are going to cover four important immigration programs that have an expiration date of September 30, 2015. Immigration law in the United States is a collection of various programs. The buzzword after the 2012 elections was “comprehensive” immigration reform. The reality is that much of immigration is “piecemeal,” so that it is put together at different times for different reasons.

Congress returns from its summer recess on September 8, 2015. When it returns, there are three weeks to ensure that the EB-5 program, CONRAD 30, Religious Workers program, and E-Verify are renewed and continued. Congresspersons have proposed and sponsored bills to renew and even make these programs permanent.

We will keep updating the blog with the political machinations, efforts to renew the programs, and any developments throughout September. September 30 is a critical date in immigration for another reasons. The Department of Homeland Security is the federal agency charged with overseeing immigration in the United States. In March of this past year, after weeks of intense scrutiny and jockeying, Congress decided to fund DHS until September 30. DHS funding is sure to be another point of emphasis when Congress returns to session next week.

We will summarize each program, describe its purpose, and detail any future updates or changes to the programs.

EB-5 Visa

Posted on September 12, 2014 by Andrew Wood

For the first time in its history, the EB-5 Investor visa hit its cap. Given a cap of 10,000 visas per year (starting October 1), the visa reached its ceiling on August 23, 2014. The Department of State issued a notice to signal that the category was unavailable to Chinese nationals until the new fiscal year. However, on September 9, the October Visa Bulletin showed that the category was “current” for China.

EB-5 Visa Requirements

Credit: @blmurch – Flickr

The EB-5 visa requires a one million dollar investment that creates or preserves at least ten jobs for United States workers ($500,000 in “Targeted Employment Area”) from a foreign national. The visa has been available for 20 years, but its popularity has soared in the past six years, following the economic crisis in 2008. 75% of all EB-5 visas have been issued in the past six years, and that percentage looks primed to jump higher with each successive year breaking the previous year’s mark.

EB-5 Visa Proves to be Beneficial

The benefits from the capital invested through the EB-5 visa program are apparent in Pittsburgh. Bakery Square, a renovation project in East Liberty and Shadyside, was built primarily through the efforts of EB-5 investors. 70 investors contributed $35 million into the project. The infusion of capital makes the program attractive to the United States. The program is particularly attractive to investors from countries such as China because they are unable to obtain the E-1 Treaty Trader Visa and E-2 Treaty Investor Visa, which requires that an appropriate commerce treaty with the United States.

The EB-5 visa has been criticized for being a thinly veiled money for visa transaction, but its popularity and benefits are apparent. The recent surging growth of the EB-5 visa should portend prosperously for the United States and local communities. Perhaps next fiscal year, the limit will be reached even earlier and more countries will be pushing the limit.