What Hope for Green Cards if USCIS to Lay Off Thousands?
The Coronavirus crisis has affected applications for benefits to the United States Citizenship and Immigrations Services (USCIS). The New York Times reported that the Service is on the brink of insolvency, and that receipts could be down 60% by the end of the fiscal year. Layoffs are planned, and sources at the agency tell me that the union that represents USCIS employees suggests the furloughs might affect more than 10,000 employees, beginning in July.
The Service has asked Congress for a $1.2 billion appropriation to fund the agency. Critics say that the Administration’s own policies have caused the problem, and suggest that the Administration is using the crisis as an indirect and cynical way to slow immigration generally.
Regardless of the cause, the crisis affect everyone in the green card pipeline, including EB5 I-526 petitioners. The services provided by USCIS are supposed to be fee funded, and the EB5 I-526 petitioner currently pays $3,675 for the privilege of waiting over two years for I-526 adjudication. The petitioners in the queue paid up front, and their application fees have long since gone to Treasury and spent, probably paying my exorbitant salary when I worked there. It’s a rare business model that can survive by taking payment up front while pulling back the promise that it will provide the service it contracted. But it’s the only game in town.
These things seem pretty certain:
Waits will grow even longer;
The US immigration by investment scheme will continue to wane; and
The Mandamus business is a growth area.
Sources here:
https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/u-s-immigration-agency-could-furlough-10000-employees-without-emergency-coronavirus-funds/
https://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/news/2020/05/26/uscis-national-benefits-center-employee-layoffs.html
immigration-agency-uscis-budget.html