USA EB-5 Investment Decreases to $500,000 Effective Immediately

EB-5 Investment Decreases to $500,000 Effective Immediately – District Court Vacates November 21, 2019, Final Rule
Tuesday, June 22, 2021 – United States Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley of the U.S. Northern District Court of California issued an order today voiding the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program Modernization Final Rule that became effective November 21, 2019. The Rule increased the minimum investment amount from $500,000 to $900,000. With the Rule no longer in effect, the minimum investment amount for the EB-5 Visa Program has been lowered to $500,000. But the bigger question remains, how long will lower investment amounts last? The EB-5 Regional Center Program is set to expire on June 30, 2021. While advocacy efforts are ongoing, this change in judicial amounts may stall negotiations in Congress to extend/renew the program. Clients will only have until June 29, 2021, to make a deposit, complete legal work, and file with USCIS (6 days).

The Case

The Judge found the USCIS Final Rule to be procedurally deficient. Improperly appointed, former Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan was not lawfully serving in his position when he promulgated the Final Rule in July 2019, therefore the rule is not valid.

Next

The Judge, however, did not grant the plaintiffs an injunction barring current and properly appointed, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas from reinstating the rule. Secretary Mayorkas has already attempted to ratify the regulations (The judge found this did not cure the deficiency), so he will likely seek to appeal and/or reinstate the rule, returning the minimum investment to $900,000. During the appeal, USCIS could seek a stay while the appeal is ongoing, which would temporarily return the minimum investment to $900,000 and work toward reinstating the rule through the proper rulemaking process returning the investment amount from $500,000 to $900,000 permanently.

The Opportunity

This opportunity could be short. Investors must be prepared to act fast. Contact one of our representatives or email [email protected]

CANADA WELCOMES 1 Million New Immigrants

November 1, 2017 – Canada plans to welcome 980,000 new immigrants over the next three years under an ambitious 3-year Canada immigration plan announced by the federal government today.
as 360,000 by 2020 under the multi-year plan.
Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen described the announcement as ‘historic’, as the government outlines its plan for the next three years, featuring managed increases across all categories.

In 2018, the immigration target will rise to 310,000, from the current 300,000 set for 2017. This target could rise to as much as 330,000 under the latest announcement.
In 2019, the target will be 330,000, with an upper limit of 350,000 new immigrants.
In 2020, the target figure will be 340,000, and the upper limit 360,000.

The ambitious plan will drive up immigration numbers to historic levels as the government pushes the annual number of newcomers towards 1 per cent of Canada’s population a target first used by the Liberals in the early 1990’s. The current levels of 300,000 correspond into an immigration rate near .82.
The managed increases are designed to allow Canada’s integration capacity to grow with the number of new immigrants being welcomed.
Canada’s Immigration Plan: Main Targets

Permanent Resident Alert! New Changes to Canada’s Citizenship Requirements Take Effect

The Liberal government election promise of relaxed citizenship requirements have finally arrived! As of October 11, 2017, new rules have come into effect to make it easier for Canadian permanent residents to apply for citizenship by reducing the time that they need to be physically present in Canada before qualifying for Canadian citizenship.
On October 4, 2017, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) announced that long awaited changes to the Citizenship Act would take effect on October 11, 2017. These changes were initially approved in June 2017 when Bill C-6 became law making obtaining citizenship more flexible and accessible for potential applicants, but it was not known exactly when they would come into effect.
Below are three of the important changes you need to know about:
Three in Five Rule
You are now eligible to apply for Canadian citizenship if you have physically resided in Canada for three (3) years in the five (5) years immediately before the date of your citizenship application, which replaces the former rule of four (4) out of the past six (6) years.
Time Spent Before Permanent Residence Counts
IRCC will once again recognize days spent in Canada as a temporary resident towards the residency requirement for citizenship. Days spent in Canada before becoming a permanent resident now count as half-days, up to a maximum of 365 days, towards meeting the physical presence requirement to obtain Canadian citizenship. These changes will specifically help people who have studied and worked in Canada before becoming permanent residents.
Relaxed Testing Requirements
Previously, applicants between the ages of 14 and 64 years were required to pass language and knowledge testing requirements for Canadian citizenship. The new rules will make these requirements mandatory only for applicants between the ages of 18 and 54 years, exempting older and younger applicants from testing both English or French language proficiency and knowledge of Canada.
These new changes make citizenship more attractive and accessible for potential applicants. In combination with the reduction of the physical residence requirement to only three years of physical presence in Canada, these newly implemented rule changes make citizenship attainable as early as two years after you become a permanent resident of Canada.
IRCC introduced the new revisions to Canada’s citizenship provisions during Citizenship Week held between October 9-15, which is intended to celebrate and reflect upon what it means to be Canadian. By implementing these changes, Canada is actively encouraging permanent residents to take the final step to apply for citizenship and become part of the Canadian family.

Canada age dependency increased

Liberal government raises age of dependency to 22

Age for dependent children in Canada’s immigration programs was 18 under Conservatives

The age for dependent children has been restored to under the age of 22 as of October 24, 2017.
This means that applicants for permanent residence to Canada can include their dependent children up to the age of 22 in an application for permanent residence in any of Canada’s immigration programs whether family sponsorship, Express Entry, business immigration, caregiver or refugee applicants.
Restoring the age for dependent children to under the age of 22 was one of the Liberal government’s major immigration election platforms in 2015.
This is the second immigration election promise to finally be implemented this month with the changes to the Citizenship eligibility requirements taking effect on October 11.
The age for a dependent child had been under the age of 22 for many years; however on August 1, 2014 the former Conservative government lowered the age of the dependency to 18 or younger, noting that adult children could apply for permanent residence on their own merit.
For many families the inability to include their young adult children in their immigration applications was a deterrent to coming to Canada.
When introducing this statutory change, the Regulatory Impact Assessment Statement (RIAS) noted that “when families are able to remain together as an economic household unit, their integration into Canada and their ability to work and contribute to their communities improves.”
The restoration of the age of dependency up to 22 is positive news for prospective immigrant families as well as for Canada.

UK Tier 1 Entrepreneur Visa Tips

It only works if you are a “genuine” applicant / entrepreneur and have “genuine” funds “genuinely” available!
Why do we say “genuine” so many times? It is from the Immigration Rules – Genuine Entrepreneur Test and it is the main reason for refusals in this visa category. Evidence of funds – can be arranged; evidence of English – same; evidence of being “genuine” – now it gets tricky (for you) and makes it easier for the government to refuse your application.
Our advice – be a genuine applicant! May sound obvious but this is the most important thing in the whole application! You have to be a genuine entrepreneur and genuinely intending to come to the UK to run your own business or to join an existing one. Do not use this category “just to come to the UK”, it is fairly obvious to professionals like us (and the Government officers!) when someone is trying to do so.

When we work on an Entrepreneur visa application, we look at least at one of the following (better both):

1) Does the migrant have past experience of running his/her own business? If the answer is No, maybe at least their family members do? Such as a parent or uncle’s business in their home country.

2) Does the migrant have past experience in working in the chosen business sector? Very often we see foreign students applying as Entrepreneurs, in which case they have to at least have relevant qualifications.

Here are some examples that work:

A student obtains a UK degree while on a Tier 4 visa, returns to their home country and applies for an Entrepreneur entry visa to set up a business in the sector that he studied and which is connected to his family’s work in the home country. For example, a student obtains an accountancy qualification here and has a parent who is employed as an accountant in their home country. Here most “skilled” business sectors work but generic things, like export/import of clothes or phones, tend to be less successful. A restaurant or a shop are least likely to succeed unless it is a franchise (Subway is very popular).

A variation of the above: a student applies to set up a business in the UK, which is connected to his/her UK degree. They have no family members working in that field but their family run a different business in their home country. Although there is no connection to the given business sector, the family members’ experience of running a business would be helpful to guide our client with running a business in the UK. The general logic of running a business is the same in any country, the details are different, for which a professional, such as a UK lawyer or accountant, can be hired from the £200,000 investment.

A Tier 2 migrant comes to the UK, works for 2 years in, say, IT sector, then applies for Entrepreneur visa to run a business in the same or similar field, using the business connections that he has built up during the time spent on Tier 2. Here the previous experience of running a business would not be important.

A foreign entrepreneur has been running a successful business in their home country for several years, can prove it with official tax filings (not cash business), and now wishes to set up the same kind of enterprise in the UK. This usually works well, especially if manufacturing of goods is involved (future manufacturing in the UK) but tends to work better for “skilled” or specialist industries. Again setting up a shop or buying/selling business like at home tends to be risky, although it depends on the case and the applicant.

UK Spouse Visa Financial Requirement

How much savings do I need?
So, there’s a lot of confusion. Do I need £18600 in savings? Or maybe £16000? The correct answer is the whopping amount of £62500

The threshold of £18600 applies to income, not savings.
The amount of savings is calculated using a specific formula. The first £16000 aren’t taken into account at all. This part of the calculation is often taken out of context, so many wrongly think they are OK as long as they have £16000, but it’s only the 1st part.
Then the targets amount £18600 is multiplied by 2.5 to reflect the Spouse visa length of 2.5 years.
We get: £18600 x 2.5 + £16000 = £62500, which is the correct answer.

How to calculate if you have some income and only using savings for the difference? Same formula but a different threshold.
Let’s imagine your income is £15000, so the difference is £18600 – £15000 = £3600.
Then you need savings of £3600 x 2.5 + £16000 = £25000.

5 April 2018 deadline for UK Tier 1 General indefinite leave to remain visa applications

Applications for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) in the UK for Tier 1 General Visa holders must be submitted by 5 April, 2018 at the latest. Tier 1 General ILR closes on 6 April, 2018 and so this UK settlement route is being withdrawn from this date. You should make sure that you have passed the Life in the UK Test before you apply and in some circumstances you may need to pass an English language test.

The Tier 1 General Visa category was an enormously successful visa category when it was introduced by the Labour Government in 2008. However over the years anti-immigration sentiment has increased. These days for skilled workers from outside the EU the only UK visa route in many cases is the Tier 2 Visa route sponsored by an employer with a Tier 2 sponsorship license