A note from USCIS yesterday and article in WSJ this morning confirms that USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas will be making an announcement at 1 PM EST today to finalize a series of changes to visa programs, including EB-5.
CLICK HERE to watch the announcements live.
We are looking forward to seeing what changes were made to the original USCIS proposal, after they received and reviewed comments from stakeholders like IIUSA, and in what timeframe the accelerated processing options will be available. The sooner the better. With reports today that consumer spending is down for the first time in two years, the time for creative policy solutions like accelerated processing of EB-5 related petitions/applications is NOW. It is also the time for permanent authorization of the Program, but that is a discussion for another day and another branch of government.
Please see below for the note sent by USCIS yesterday:
Dear Stakeholder –
The President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness invites any interested parties to participate in a Jobs and Competitiveness Listening and Action Session on Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 1:00 PM Eastern (10:00 AM Pacific). This is one in a series of engagements to solicit input from business leaders on how the public and private sectors can partner to create opportunity and job creation. During the session, Jobs Council members, administration officials, and other business leaders and entrepreneurs will discuss ways to continue to incent and catalyze high growth entrepreneurship and innovation.
In addition, the Administration will be making an announcement tomorrow that outlines a series of efforts designed to realize the full potential of our immigration laws to attract the best and brightest from around the world and encourage them to invest their talents, skills and ideas to grow our economy and create American jobs.
To join the engagement, please visit the USCIS website at www.uscis.gov and click on the banner invitation. You can also submit questions for panelists in real-time through the White House Live Facebook application.
Kind regards,
Office of Public Engagement
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
