【今日移民頭條】美國(guó)移民局3月3日利益相關(guān)者會(huì)議內(nèi)容紀(jì)要

　　美國(guó)當(dāng)?shù)貢r(shí)間3月3日，美國(guó)移民局的EB-5利益相關(guān)者會(huì)議如期召開(kāi)。此次會(huì)議提供了一些重要信息，重點(diǎn)內(nèi)容如下：

　　EB-5申請(qǐng)數(shù)據(jù)：2016年10月~12月，遞件數(shù)量不斷激增，移民局共收到4,395份I-526申請(qǐng)，752份I-829申請(qǐng)，184份I-924申請(qǐng)。在這一季度，IPO(投資移民項(xiàng)目辦公室)審理了3,583份I-526申請(qǐng)(創(chuàng)歷史新高)，112份I-829申請(qǐng)(接近歷史最低點(diǎn))，和88份I-924申請(qǐng)。IPO目前正在調(diào)整資源到I-829申請(qǐng)的審理上面。投資移民項(xiàng)目辦公室主任Colucci表示，IPO上個(gè)月審理的I-829申請(qǐng)比上一季度審理的數(shù)量還要多。

　　IPO員工：IPO正在服從凍結(jié)聯(lián)邦政府雇員招聘的行政命令;但是，USCIS(美國(guó)移民局)已經(jīng)為一些關(guān)鍵職位請(qǐng)求豁免，并且已經(jīng)獲得了審案職位的豁免。目前，IPO擁有157名員工(低于去年底171名員工的目標(biāo))。根據(jù)凍結(jié)招聘令和豁免，IPO本財(cái)年可以雇傭247名員工。增加員工是IPO加快審理效率的主要策略。

　　I-829審理：2016年10月，IPO設(shè)立了一個(gè)新的部門(mén)專(zhuān)門(mén)負(fù)責(zé)I-829裁決和客戶(hù)服務(wù)咨詢(xún)。該部門(mén)將有3個(gè)團(tuán)隊(duì)，每個(gè)團(tuán)隊(duì)有8名審案人員和經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家。每個(gè)團(tuán)隊(duì)最高級(jí)的成員將對(duì)I-829申請(qǐng)人進(jìn)行面試，大多數(shù)面試將在地方辦事處的協(xié)助下遠(yuǎn)程進(jìn)行(I-829申請(qǐng)人可以帶法律顧問(wèn)、翻譯和區(qū)域中心代表參加面試)。IPO預(yù)計(jì)，一旦該部門(mén)人員配備齊全并培訓(xùn)，I-829裁決效率將顯著提高�，F(xiàn)在，新設(shè)部門(mén)已經(jīng)有18名員工，其中包括3名高級(jí)經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家和3名高級(jí)審案人員，目前正在進(jìn)行交叉培訓(xùn)以提高工作效率。

　　區(qū)域中心報(bào)告：IPO稱(chēng)他們 “很快”會(huì)在USCIS電子閱覽室公布區(qū)域中心關(guān)停通知，以提高關(guān)停原因的透明度。他們還計(jì)劃公布每家區(qū)域中心的申請(qǐng)獲批與被拒情況。

　　合規(guī)、審計(jì)、實(shí)地考察：IPO已經(jīng)將合規(guī)部發(fā)展成了一個(gè)部門(mén)，負(fù)責(zé)監(jiān)管募集的投資(區(qū)域中心和直投投資)，并有3個(gè)分支審核I-924A、發(fā)出關(guān)停通知以及監(jiān)督審核。IPO已經(jīng)培訓(xùn)了13名實(shí)地考察人員，并計(jì)劃在今年組織對(duì)250個(gè)項(xiàng)目的實(shí)體考察。IPO向利益相關(guān)者承諾將把所有考察結(jié)果記錄整理成文字，并且在發(fā)出RFE(補(bǔ)件通知)或NOID(拒絕意向通知)通知申請(qǐng)人之前，不會(huì)根據(jù)考察信息做出決定。將有兩種類(lèi)型的實(shí)地考察：因項(xiàng)目問(wèn)題引發(fā)的實(shí)地考察以及隨機(jī)的實(shí)地考察。

　　政策：IPO計(jì)劃不久后將通過(guò)USCIS政策手冊(cè)公布維持投資的相關(guān)內(nèi)容。

　　遞件貼士：IPO提出了有助于遞件裁決的實(shí)踐方法。他們要求在遞交申請(qǐng)時(shí)，同時(shí)遞交一封說(shuō)明信、目錄，并用制表符分隔;文件應(yīng)為單面，有頁(yè)碼;復(fù)印件應(yīng)清晰可辨，盡可能附上翻譯件。申請(qǐng)中應(yīng)表明是直投還是區(qū)域中心。I-924申請(qǐng)不需要包含組織和交易文件，除非與I-526樣本申請(qǐng)有關(guān)。如果遞交有更改的文件，將更改的部分用黃色高亮顯示，或用其他醒目的方法顯示。決定撤銷(xiāo)申請(qǐng)的申請(qǐng)人需要通知IPO其撤銷(xiāo)申請(qǐng)的決定。

　　附Suzanne Lazicki的博客英文原文

　　Today’s EB-5 Stakeholder Engagement with USCIS provided a number of important updates. I have uploaded my recording, and summarized a few highlights.

　　EB-5 Petition Statistics: In October to December 2016, IPO saw a continued surge in petition filings, with 4,395 I-526 petitions received, 752 I-829 receipts, and 184 I-924 receipts. During that quarter, IPO processed 3,583 I-526 petitions (a record high), 112 I-829 petitions (a near-record low), and 88 I-924 petitions. IPO is now reorienting resources toward I-829, after having previously prioritized I-526 and I-924. Mr. Colucci commented that IPO processed more I-829’s last month than in all of last quarter.

　　IPO Staffing: IPO is subject to the executive freeze on Federal agency hiring; however, USCIS has requested exemptions for certain “mission-critical” positions, and IPO has received an exemption for its adjudicator position. IPO now has 157 employees (below their target of 171 employees for the end of last year). IPO is authorized to hire up to 247 employees this fiscal year, subject to the hiring freeze and any exemptions. Increased staffing is IPO’s primary strategy for improving processing times.

　　I-829 Processing: In October 2016, IPO created a new division to focus on Form I-829 adjudications and customer service inquiries. The division will have three teams, with eight adjudicators and economists on each team. The most senior member of each team will interview I-829 petitioners, with most interviews conducted remotely with assistance from local field offices. (As previously stated, the I-829 petitioner can bring her counsel, qualified interpreter, and a representative from the regional center if applicable.) IPO expects I-829 adjudication output to improve significantly once this division is fully staffed and trained. There are currently 18 of 24 people on board, including three senior economists and three senior adjudicators who are working to cross-train for improved efficiency.

　　RC Reporting: IPO says that they will “soon” publish regional center termination notices in the USCIS Electronic Reading Room to promote transparency about reasons for termination. They are also planning to publish petition approval and denial statistics for each regional center.

　　Compliance, Audits, Site Visits: IPO has grown its compliance unit to become a division that oversees pooled investments (both regional center and pooled direct investments) with three branches to review I-924A, issue termination notices, and oversee audits (the first of which is scheduled for next month). IPO has trained 13 site inspectors from around the country, and expects to conduct about 250 EB-5 project site visits this year. IPO reassured stakeholders that IPO would interpret any site visit results in context, and would not make decisions based on the info before notifying petitioners through RFE or NOID. There are two types of site visits: for-cause visits triggered by questions about the project, and random visits that are scheduled at some point between I-526 approval and I-829 filing.

　　Policy: IPO plans to publish content related to sustained investment “in the near future” in the USCIS Policy Manual (rather than finalizing the draft August 2015 policy memo). IPO reviewed comments on the Policy Manual but does not plan any changes in response to the comments.

　　Regional Center geographic area expansion must now be approved BEFORE I-526 petitions can be filed:Here is a transcription of what Lori Mackenzie said (starting at minute 25 of the recording):

　　We also received some questions related to the new Policy Manual publication as well as to the new I-924 Form release, which was effective on December 23, 2016, and the question really does relate to an expansion of geographic scope of a regional center. So just to give everyone a little bit of background around that. There is some guidance in the May 2013 Policy Memo that talks about how to expand geographic scope. After that guidance, we published the Policy Manual in November of 2016 which superseded that guidance, and then on December 23 we issued some guidance with respect to the Form I-924 and the instructions for filing the Form I-924. And so the question really relates to ‘if a Regional Center has filed an I-924 amendment requesting an expansion of geographic scope, may concurrent I-526 petitions be filed in the meantime relying on such proposed expanded geography?’ And the response to that is a little tricky, so you might want to take a few notes. We will continue to adjudicate all petitions filed prior to December 23, 2016, which is the effective date of the new Form I-924, under the prior guidance. So the May 2013 policy guidance holds for that. Petitions filed on or after December 23, 2016 must follow the current guidance, which means that Form I-526 petitions based on an area not previously approved will be deniable due to ineligibility at the time of filing. Note that in May 2016, prior to publication of the final revised Form I-924, we did provide the public with an opportunity to comment on this process by publishing the draft form in the Federal Register.

　　I had been wondering about this issue, ever since I noticed that the November 2016 USCIS Policy Manual dropped two little words — “geographic area” – out of the May 2013 Policy manual’s sentence about changes not requiring an amendment. Stakeholders strongly encouraged IPO to reconsider this surreptitious policy change, which has major implications for in-process projects that relied on previous policy, and which is unworkable considering that USCIS may take over a year to process amendment requests.

　　Filing Tips: IPO noted practices that would facilitate adjudications. They requested that petitions come with a cover letter and table of contents and tab-separated sections; that documents be single-sided, with page-numbers, and not permanently bound; and that copies be clear and legible and come with full translation if applicable. The petition should indicate whether it’s direct or regional center, and whether it’s part of a dual I-924/I-526 filing. I-924 applications need not include organizational and transactional documents unless associated with an Exemplar I-526. If submitting an interfiling with revised documents, highlight changes with yellow highlighter or some other method that is readily noticeable. Petitioners who have decided to abandon the process are requested to notify IPO of the decision to withdraw their petitions.