The Department of State released the January 2016 Visa Bulletin. EB-3 China (July 1, 2012) is still ahead of EB-2 China (February 1, 2012). Visa numbers are not available in the Certain Religious Workers (EB-4) and EB-5 Regional Center classes for China. The unavailability of EB-5 Regional Center visa numbers reflects the expiration of the EB-5 Pilot Program on December 11, 2015. If Congress acts to extend these Programs, the cut-off dates for the EB-5 Regional Center class would immediately become "Current" for all countries except China, which would be subject to a January 8, 2014 cut-off date.

Read Kathryn Karam's latest article in the Houston Business Journal: What Donald Trump is Missing in the Immigration Debate.

Read Kathryn N. Karam's latest article in Lebanon Times Magazine on the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Employment Creation program.

The American Immigration Council's Immigration Policy Center has published a report on the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Employment Creation program and the contributions of EB-5 investors to the U.S. economy. Among other points, the report notes that EB-5 investors have contributed over $2.65 billion to the U.S. economy, supported 33,347 jobs, and paid over $346,000.00 in Federal taxes.

According to a news release on bizjournals.com, President Obama has announced that SelectUSA - a project aimed at attracting multinational companies to set up their businesses in the United States -will have its second summit next year. The goal is to have foreign companies who might choose to open new facilities or establish new operations anywhere to come to the United States to take advantage of a skilled labor force, low energy costs, and relatively simple exporting procedures. According to Jason Furman, chairman of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, these so-called “Globally mobile investments” benefit the U.S. economy by creating jobs with above-average wages. However, these companies often need their executives and specially-trained workers to be able to come to the United States to ensure the proper establishment and operation of the company. In recent months, USCIS has scrutinized the transfer of employees of multinational companies into the United States more than in previous years, leaving many companies without authorization to move key employees and managers into their U.S. offices as needed.

The USCIS California Service Center (CSC), which processes EB-5 Immigrant Investor Petitions, has released processing times: