State Department Visa Chief: Becoming Documentarily Qualified Can Help Department of State Issue Greater Numbers of EB-5 VisasDecember 11, 2020
The past few weeks have seen important updates for EB-5 stakeholders and investors. The U.S. Department of State (DOS) released the December Visa Bulletin and Invest in USA (IIUSA), an EB-5 industry trade associate, completed a week-long virtual industry forum event that featured both Ms. Sarah Kendall, Chief of the Immigrant Investor Program Office at the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and Mr. Charlie Oppenheim, Chief of Visa Control and Reporting at the DOS.
Under the December Visa Bulletin, China’s final action date of August 15, 2020 remains unchanged. Vietnam’s final action date will move forward approximately two weeks to September 1, 2017. All other countries, including India, are listed as current. These final action dates take on special importance during the current fiscal year (FY) 2021 and possibly for FY 2022. Due to COVID-19’s impact on the DOS’s ability to issue allocated visas in other visa categories during FY 2020, the EB-5 Visa category is anticipated to experience a one-time gain of approximately 8,500 unused visas. Mr. Oppenheim also predicted another significant gain of unused visas for the EB-5 category for FY2022.
During his IIUSA Industry Forum presentation, Mr. Oppenheim encouraged all EB-5 participants whose priority date is current on Chart B of the Visa Bulletin to file the DS-260 form with the National Visa Center (NVC) and take steps to become “Documentarily Qualified” and prepared for the consulate interview, helping the DOS process applicants more efficiently at Consulate posts.
The term Documentarily Qualified means following the NVC Immigrant Visa Process to ensure that all documents required by the Consulate for participants are prepared and sent in advance to the National Visa Center. By receiving and evaluating the documents ahead of time, the NVC can request any missing information from the petitioner. Once all required documents have been received and evaluated, the NVC will send a letter indicating the applicant is ‘Documentarily Qualified” and ready for the interview with the DOS Consulate.
CMB Regional Centers is a leader in the EB-5 industry. If you would like to learn more about the EB-5 Investor Visa, or CMB’s current EB-5 offerings, please contact us to schedule a free initial consultation with a CMB Investor Relations Manager.
CMB engages Prevail Capital, LLC, a broker-dealer registered with the SEC and a member of FINRA and SIPC, to be the administrative placement agent for all CMB EB-5 partnerships.
Under the December Visa Bulletin, China’s final action date of August 15, 2020 remains unchanged. Vietnam’s final action date will move forward approximately two weeks to September 1, 2017. All other countries, including India, are listed as current. These final action dates take on special importance during the current fiscal year (FY) 2021 and possibly for FY 2022. Due to COVID-19’s impact on the DOS’s ability to issue allocated visas in other visa categories during FY 2020, the EB-5 Visa category is anticipated to experience a one-time gain of approximately 8,500 unused visas. Mr. Oppenheim also predicted another significant gain of unused visas for the EB-5 category for FY2022.
During his IIUSA Industry Forum presentation, Mr. Oppenheim encouraged all EB-5 participants whose priority date is current on Chart B of the Visa Bulletin to file the DS-260 form with the National Visa Center (NVC) and take steps to become “Documentarily Qualified” and prepared for the consulate interview, helping the DOS process applicants more efficiently at Consulate posts.
The term Documentarily Qualified means following the NVC Immigrant Visa Process to ensure that all documents required by the Consulate for participants are prepared and sent in advance to the National Visa Center. By receiving and evaluating the documents ahead of time, the NVC can request any missing information from the petitioner. Once all required documents have been received and evaluated, the NVC will send a letter indicating the applicant is ‘Documentarily Qualified” and ready for the interview with the DOS Consulate.
CMB Regional Centers is a leader in the EB-5 industry. If you would like to learn more about the EB-5 Investor Visa, or CMB’s current EB-5 offerings, please contact us to schedule a free initial consultation with a CMB Investor Relations Manager.
CMB engages Prevail Capital, LLC, a broker-dealer registered with the SEC and a member of FINRA and SIPC, to be the administrative placement agent for all CMB EB-5 partnerships.