Miami Business Law Blog

Under Section 101((a)(15)(E)(ii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. §1101 et seq.), certain foreign nationals that are citizens of a country that has entered into a treaty of commerce and navigation with the United States, may obtain a nonimmigrant visa and work and live in the U.S. if such foreign national has invested a "substantial amount of capital" in a U.S. enterprise. This is what is referred to as the "E-2 Treaty Investor Visa" category. There are numerous countries that qualify for this visa because they entered into a treaty of commerce and navigation with the U.S. The U.S. Department of State publishes this list of countries. However, there are many countries that do not have a treaty with the U.S., like Venezuela, Brazil, Uruguay, Portugal, India and other countries. Last year, the U.S. Department of State issued a notification that its treaty with Ecuador was terminated by Ecuador. Therefore, nationals of Ecuador no longer qualify for the E-2 Treaty Investor Visa and Ecuadorian nationals that have made qualifying investments in the U.S. prior to May 18, 2018 will continue to be entitled to E-2 status, but only until May 18, 2028.

Nowadays, unreasonable or inordinate delays in immigration petition processing times are causing clients significant stress, particularly because travel may be restricted while the immigration petition or application is pending. However, there is a solution which may have been viewed as extreme in previous years, but which now is getting renewed attention. That solution is filing a lawsuit against the United States Immigration and Citizenship Services ("USCIS") in federal court under the Mandamus and Venue Act of 1962. Under this Act, the party bringing the lawsuit is demanding that the court order USCIS to act and adjudicate the petition or application. In such a case, the party bringing suit must show that he or she has a clear right to the relief requested, that the government has a clear duty to perform the act in question, and that there is no other adequate remedy available.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would allow millions of additional workers to receive overtime compensation. In particular, under the current law, administrative employees that earn at least $455 per week are not entitled to overtime compensation. Section 12(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 provides an exemption from both minimum wage and overtime pay for such employees.

Unfortunately, despite no change in the immigration laws, visa denials are on the rise. Even the relatively straight-forward E-2 Treaty Investor Visa is being routinely denied by U.S. Consulates. Thank goodness that I have absolutely no denials that I have not been able to reverse through motions for reconsideration or appeals when the clients have been willing to fight the denial. Sometimes, however, clients themselves lose faith and don't want to appeal, which is a mistake. Increasingly, an appeal or motion for reconsideration may be the only route.