On February 17, IIUSA met with the Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) Ombudsman’s Office to discuss issues and concerns of the EB-5 Regional Center industry. IIUSA collected topics for discussion from industry stakeholders prior to the call and submitted them to the Ombudsman’s Office prior to the call. The hour-long meeting gave IIUSA the opportunity to expand upon some of these topics in hopes that the Ombudsman’s Office will use its capacity as a third-party mediator to make recommendations to U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) for improvements or changes for the Program.
Attending the meeting on IIUSA’s behalf was IIUSA staff, its government affairs consultants and Public Policy Committee Chair, Irina Rostova. We look forward to an ongoing and mutual relationship with the Ombudsman’s Office to address areas of concern with the EB-5 Program and we are thankful for the opportunity to have this meeting.
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The Ombudsman’s Office meets with stakeholder communities across the country to hear about their concerns and identify issues with USCIS programs and processing. The Ombudsman then uses this input to make recommendations to USCIS to fix systemic problems and improve the quality of their services.
The Ombudsman’s Office is an impartial and confidential office separate from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Congress created the office to help individuals and employers who are having issues with pending applications or petitions with USCIS.
