The Department of State (DOS) has released its March 2020 Visa Bulletin, which shows significant advancement in most employment-based (EB) categories, particularly the EB-5 category. 根据国务院（DOS）最新发布的2020年3月签证排期表（Visa Bulletin），大多数职业类别的移民排期有大幅进展，尤其是EB-5投资移民类别。 Specifically for EB-5, the priority dates per Chart A Final Action Dates will remain current for investors born in all countries except China, India, and Vietnam. The final action cutoff date for China will advance by almost six months to May 15, 2015. Likewise, the final action…

On Feb. 7, 2020, the official visa information website of the U.S. mission in China (http://cdn.ustraveldocs.com/cn/index.html?firstTime=No) announced that as of Feb. 3, 2020, regular visa services at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and Consulates General in Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Shenyang are all suspended. The notice further states that the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in China have very limited staffing and may be unable to respond to requests regarding regular visa services. Limited…

As a follow-up to our Jan. 31 blog post, we have yet to see an official announcement from the U.S. Embassy & Consulates in China regarding visa appointment cancellations for the week of Feb. 10 or later. However, this week, we began receiving non-immigrant and immigrant visa appointment cancellations for the week of Feb. 10. Likewise, the U.S. Consulate General in Guangzhou informed some EB-5 investors that “Due to the evolving situation with the novel corona…

The coronavirus “2019-nCoV” epidemic has resulted in a lockdown of millions of people in China, just as the country was celebrating the Lunar New Year 2020. Many are unable to leave their cities either due to travel restrictions imposed by the government or fear of being infected by the virus by boarding a bus, train, or airplane. Given the circumstances, many U.S. permanent residents, or green card holders, who are currently in China may remain…

On Jan. 31, the official visa information website of the U.S. mission in China posted an urgent announcement that U.S. Embassy and Consulates in China are cancelling immigrant and nonimmigrant visa appointments the week of Feb. 3. The visa information website cannot provide a specific date when routine visa services will be resumed. We expect EB-5 investors, along with all immigrant and nonimmigrant visa applicants who have been scheduled an interview in China next week…

On Jan. 27, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the Department of Justice’s request to lift the nationwide temporary injunction against the Trump Administration’s public charge rule, while the litigation over the policy continues. The decision allows the public charge rule to take effect nationwide, except for in the state of Illinois, during the pendency of the underlying litigation on the merits of the public charge rule. Previously, a New York federal judge halted implementation…

As many of our readers are aware, the novel coronavirus1 outbreak in China is a major public health concern. At the time of publishing this blog post, the U.S. has not restricted travel for visitors who may be coming from Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, the now-quarantined city that is the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak. However, travelers originating in China may face certain issues upon arrival to the U.S. if coming from virus-stricken areas.…