Immigration General Counsel

04/10/2023

The EB-5 community has voted IGC's Partner Belma Demirovic Chinchoy a Top 25 EB-5 Immigration Attorney. We are grateful for our peers and clients' continued trust.

21/01/2021

The discriminatory, aka Muslim, travel ban has been lifted.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/20/proclamation-ending-discriminatory-bans-on-entry-to-the-united-states/?fbclid=IwAR2nuFi5JI1bMyysdA0vaLa2vDi2FnnjCIsh6PC5Eh0Z5RtoPZ6e-5UT7lY

Instructions on how to proceed for the AP’ed or refused visas are forthcoming; the gov’t may reopen cases on its own or provide instructions for resubmission of applications.

The United States was built on a foundation of religious freedom and tolerance, a principle enshrined in the United States Constitution.

29/09/2020

Rushing to downgrade your EB-2 petition? Perhaps it's a good idea, but read this first.

Applying the adage of “if we had a dollar for every time we heard …” to last week would end like this: If we had a dollar for every time we heard please downgrade my EB-2 petition so I can get my green card faster, we’d have at least $100. And that’s $100 for just a few short days since th...

23/06/2020

# # has updated and expanded his previous order banning issuance of certain visas. It does NOT apply to E1/E2 visas. It does NOT apply to any application or petition to change/extend status within the US. # # #

The previous order, issued on April 22, 2020, prevented U.S. Consulates from issuing Immigrant Visas (i.e., permanent residence visas) for 60 days. Today’s order expands this ban on visas to include several non-immigrant (i.e., temporary) visa categories. Namely, the ban now includes H-1B (and H-4), H-2B, J-1, and L-1 and L-2 visas.

In practice, this means that once US Consulates re-open and until December 31, 2020, immigrant visas and the above listed non-immigrant visas will not be issued to qualifying applicants.

This Executive Order does NOT apply to following visa categories: E-1/E2 | F-1 Students | TN | B-1 | E-3 | O-1
This Executive Order also does NOT apply to any application or petition to extend or change status *within* the US.

If you are a nonimmigrant visa holder and considering international travel (once COVID-19 bans have lifted), please discuss your plans with your attorney.

The 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) has significantly disrupted Americans' livelihoods. Since March 2020, United States businesses and their workers hav

24/04/2020

USCIS is readying offices to reopen on or after June 4.

Until then, and possibly later, there will be no regularly scheduled interviews or finger printing appointments.

23/04/2020

The new Executive Order re Immigration stops U.S. Consulates from issuing Immigrant Visas (which lead to a green card upon entry into the US) to applicants outside the US for 60 days. That's it.

It exempts:
- EB5 investors
- USC spouses
- USC children under 21
- Those coming to work in a health-related field, and
- Several other somewhat rarely used visa categories.

This means:
- Consulates (once they are up and running post COVID) can issue non-immigrant visas such as H1B, F1, L1, J1 and so on.
- USCIS will continue to adjudicate Adjustment of Status (green card applications) for applicants in the US.
- USCIS will continue to adjudicate Changes/Extensions of status for non-immigrant visas such as H1B, F1, L1, J1 and so on.

All that hype yesterday was political posturing. COVID-19 has had a much more limiting impact on Immigration than this EO.

21/04/2020

The ill conceived order is still being drafted.

By all accounts - however speculative they might be - the order will be short term, those already in the US may be exempted and job-creating visas would be exempted as well as those for “essential” jobs.

We’ll wait for the EO to find out what needs to be done.

11/04/2020

Join me next week in a Virtual EB5 Expo for engaging discussions about the current EB5 industry, including the impact of COVID-19 on EB5 investments.

23/03/2020

DHS has relaxed the I-9 rules. Until further notice, for employees working remotely, all I-9 documents can be examined remotely through email/fax/video conference.

20/03/2020

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced that it will accept all benefit forms and documents with reproduced - copies of - original signatures.

17/03/2020

We at Immigration General Counsel hope you are staying well amidst the disruption and uncertainty caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). While we are closely following the recommended health precautions, our work continues uninterrupted for the time being. Since our inception our firm has been set up for virtual work and we operate from a secure, cloud-based technology platform.

Do not hesitate to contact us via phone or email if you need assistance or have questions. We have suspended in-person meetings, but are happy to speak with you via video-conference, phone or a chat platform.