The American Bar Association (ABA) Section of International Law will be holding a Continuing Legal Education teleconference on United States and Canadian immigrant investor options. The title of the teleconference is “Dealing with the Investment Immigration Visa: Navigating the Differences in U.S. and Canadian Laws” and it will take place tomorrow (Wednesday, January 27, 2010) at 1:00pm-2:00pm ET.

Along with other panelists, Mr. Chang will provide an overview the U.S. EB-5 immigrant investor category, the Canadian federal immigrant investor category, the Quebec immigrant investor category, and other investor options available under Provincial Nominee Programs. The EB-5 program will also be compared to its Canadian counterparts.

The teleconference is open to ABA members (at a discounted price) and to the general public (at full price). For additional information, please refer to the following URL: http://www.abanet.org/cle/programs/t10iiv1.html

The following items were recently updated on our website:

• January 3, 2009: Revised Article on the R-1 Nonimmigrant Religious Worker Category


• December 28, 2009: Revised Article on Canadian Labour Market Opinions (Revision to Minimum Advertising Requirements)


• December 28, 2009: Revised Article on the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Category (Extension of Regional Center Pilot Program)


• December 28, 2009: Revised Article on the Special Immigrant Religious Worker Category (Extension of Non-Minister Eligibility)

The Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2010 (the “Act”) was signed by the President on October 28, 2009. The Act extends the following programs until September 30, 2012:

1. E-Verify
2. The Immigrant Investor (EB-5) Pilot Program
3. The special immigrant visa category for non-minister religious workers
4. The date by which J-1 nonimmigrant exchange visitors must obtain that status in order to qualify for the “Conrad 30″ program.

Further details regarding these programs appears below.

E-Verify

E-Verify, an Internet-based system operated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in partnership with the Social Security Administration (SSA), allows participating employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of their newly hired employees. More than 168,000 participating employers at nearly 640,000 worksites nationwide currently use the program. Since Oct. 1, 2009, more than 1.3 million employment verification queries have been run through the system and approximately 96.9 percent of all queries are now automatically confirmed without any need for employee action.

EB-5 Regional Center Pilot Program

Under the Immigrant Investor Pilot Program, USCIS will continue to receive, process, and adjudicate all Regional Center Proposals and Forms I-526, Immigrant Petitions by Alien Entrepreneur, and Form I-485, Applications to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, affiliated with Regional Centers relying on “indirect” job creation analysis. Currently, there are more than 70 regional centers throughout the United States.

Special Immigrant Visa Category for Non-Minister Religious Workers

The special immigrant visa category for non-minister religious workers covers those within a religious vocation or occupation and also applies to accompanying or ‘following-to-join’ spouses and children of non-ministers. USCIS will continue to receive and process Form 1-360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant and Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, based on Form I-360 petitions.

Conrad 30 J-1 Waiver Program

USCIS will continue to adjudicate immigration benefits covered by the “Conrad 30” program. The “Conrad 30” program allows each state health department to submit a request directly to the Department of State to initiate the waiver process for a foreign medical graduate who obtained J-1 status to change or adjust to another status without the required two-year foreign residence. The law previously required the foreign medical graduate to have acquired J-1 status before September 30, 2009; the law now extends the program to cover J-1 admissions before Sept. 30, 2012.

On 10/01/09, President Obama signed a continuing resolution to fund continued federal government operations through October 31, 2009. Included in the legislation were provisions to extend the E-Verify, Religious Worker, Conrad 30 and EB-5 programs. The continuing resolution was attached to the FY10 Legislative Branch Appropriations bill (H.R. 2918), and was passed by the House of Representatives on 9/25/09 and the Senate on 9/30/09.

When the REAL ID Act of 2005 was enacted, it established a new nonimmigrant visa category at INA §101(a)(15)(E)(iii); this new category is commonly referred to as the “E-3.” Despite the fact that this category appears at INA §101(a)(15)(E)(iii), it has very little in common with the E-1 (treaty trader) and E-2 (treaty investor) nonimmigrant categories. It more closely resembles the H-1B nonimmigrant category for specialty occupations. Click here for the full article.