[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 91 (Thursday, May 13, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26230-26231]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-10108]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

[OMB Control Number 1615-0045]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Revision of a Currently 
Approved Collection: Petition by Entrepreneur To Remove Conditions on 
Permanent Resident Status

AGENCY: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of 
Homeland Security.

ACTION: 60-Day notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration Services (USCIS) invites the general public and other 
Federal agencies to comment upon this proposed revision of a currently 
approved collection of information. In accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, the information collection notice is 
published in the Federal Register to obtain comments regarding the 
nature of the information collection, the categories of respondents, 
the estimated burden (i.e. the time, effort, and resources used by the 
respondents to respond), the estimated cost to the respondent, and the 
actual information collection instruments.

DATES: Comments are encouraged and will be accepted for 60 days until 
July 12, 2021.

ADDRESSES: All submissions received must include the OMB Control Number 
1615-0045 in the body of the letter, the agency name and Docket ID 
USCIS-2006-0009. Submit comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal 
website at https://www.regulations.gov under e-Docket ID number USCIS-
2006-0009. USCIS is limiting communications for this Notice as a result 
of USCIS' COVID-19 response actions.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: USCIS, Office of Policy and Strategy, 
Regulatory Coordination Division, Samantha Deshommes, Chief, telephone 
number (240) 721-3000 (This is not a toll-free number. Comments are not 
accepted via telephone message). Please note contact information 
provided here is solely for questions regarding this notice. It is not 
for individual case status inquiries. Applicants seeking information 
about the status of their individual cases can check Case Status 
Online, available at the USCIS website at https://www.uscis.gov, or 
call the USCIS Contact Center at 800-375-5283 (TTY 800-767-1833).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This Information Collection Revision would 
amend the Form I-829, Petition by Investor to Remove Conditions on 
Permanent Resident Status to clarify who may file the petition in 
different situations.

Background

    On January 13, 2017, DHS published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 
(NPRM), EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program Modernization. See 82 FR 4738 
(Jan. 13, 2017). The NPRM sought to ``clarify the process by which an 
immigrant investor's spouse and children file separate Form I-829 
petitions when they are not included in the Form I-829 filed by the 
immigrant investor. Generally, an immigrant investor's derivatives 
should be included in the principal immigrant investor's Form I-829 
petition. See [prior] 8 CFR 216.6(a)(1). However, there are situations 
in which derivatives may not be included on the principal immigrant 
investor's Form I-829 petition . . . In such circumstances, if the 
immigrant investor would have otherwise been eligible to have his or 
her conditions on status removed, then the derivatives would remain 
eligible to remove the conditions on their status even if the immigrant 
investor cannot or will not file a Form I-829 petition.'' 82 FR at 
4750.
    The NPRM continued, ``DHS also clarifies, however, that consistent 
with current practice, each derivative must file a separate Form I-829 
petition in all other situations in which the investor's spouse and 
children are not included in the investor's Form I-829 petition. See 
id.'' 82 FR at 4750.
    On July 24, 2019, DHS published a Final Rule, EB-5 Immigrant 
Investor

[[Page 26231]]

Program Modernization. See 84 FR 35750 (Jul. 24, 2019). In response to 
a public comment regarding derivative filing, DHS responded that it 
``proposed to standardize the process for those derivatives who file an 
individual Form I-829 petition and cannot be included on the 
principal's Form I-829, generally because the principal fails or 
refuses to file a Form I-829. Under these circumstances, the final rule 
clarifies the current DHS practice of requiring all derivatives 
connected to a single principal investor to file separately . . . This 
final rule only allows derivatives to apply together on a single Form 
I-829 petition when the principal is deceased, because INA 204(l) 
directs DHS to adjudicate `notwithstanding the death of the qualifying 
relative.' . . .This rule does not change the current DHS practice, and 
DHS is simply clarifying language in 8 CFR 216.6(a)(1) to avoid a 
situation where derivatives filing separately do so incorrectly, 
causing their petition to be rejected.'' 84 FR at 35782.

Reasons for Change

    DHS is clarifying language from the preamble of both the NPRM and 
the Final Rule with this form revision regarding who may file the form. 
When DHS stated that a derivative may file a Form I-829 petition if the 
principal immigrant investor ``fails or refuses to file a Form I-829,'' 
DHS was referring to the principal's failure or refusal to file a Form 
I-829 for the derivative(s). The current DHS practice is for 
derivatives not included on the principal's Form I-829 to file a 
separate Form I-829. Therefore, DHS intended the comment response in 
the Final Rule to be read as: DHS proposed to standardize the process 
for those derivatives who file an individual Form I-829 petition and 
cannot be included on the principal's Form I-829, generally because the 
principal fails or refuses to file a Form I-829 for the derivative(s).
    DHS understands that the failure to include ``for the 
derivative(s)'' may have caused confusion concerning whether the 
derivative of a principal immigrant investor can petition for and 
obtain the removal of conditions if the principal immigrant investor 
has not petitioned to remove his or her conditions. Through its 
regulation, DHS only intended to clarify existing practice for 
derivatives seeking to remove conditions on permanent residence. 
Currently, if the principal immigrant is unable to remove his or her 
conditions, the derivative immigrant is generally unable to remove his 
or her conditions, except where the principal has died, as statutorily 
required by INA 204(l).
    This is consistent with the terms `alien spouse' and `alien child' 
as defined by INA 216A(f)(2). It is also consistent with 8 CFR 
216.6(a)(1)(ii), and how derivative status is similarly interpreted 
across immigration benefits: That a derivative generally does not have 
status without the principal.

Comments

    You may access the information collection instrument with 
instructions or additional information by visiting the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal site at: https://www.regulations.gov and entering 
USCIS-2006-0009 in the search box. All submissions will be posted, 
without change, to the Federal eRulemaking Portal at https://www.regulations.gov, and will include any personal information you 
provide. Therefore, submitting this information makes it public. You 
may wish to consider limiting the amount of personal information that 
you provide in any voluntary submission you make to DHS. DHS may 
withhold information provided in comments from public viewing that it 
determines may impact the privacy of an individual or is offensive. For 
additional information, please read the Privacy Act notice that is 
available via the link in the footer of https://www.regulations.gov.
    Written comments and suggestions from the public and affected 
agencies should address one or more of the following four points:
    (1) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
    (2) Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of 
the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
    (3) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected; and
    (4) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those 
who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic 
submission of responses.

Overview of This Information Collection

    (1) Type of Information Collection: Revision of a Currently 
Approved Collection.
    (2) Title of the Form/Collection: Petition by Entrepreneur to 
Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status.
    (3) Agency form number, if any, and the applicable component of the 
DHS sponsoring the collection: I-829; USCIS.
    (4) Affected public who will be asked or required to respond, as 
well as a brief abstract: Primary: Individuals or households; Business 
or other for-profit. This form is used by a conditional resident alien 
entrepreneur who obtained such status through a qualifying investment, 
to apply to remove conditions on his or her conditional residence.
    (5) An estimate of the total number of respondents and the amount 
of time estimated for an average respondent to respond: The estimated 
total number of respondents for the information collection I-829 is 
2,790 and the estimated hour burden per response is 4.17 hours. The 
estimated total number of respondents for the information collection 
Site Visit is 150 and the estimated hour burden per response is 2 
hours. The estimated total number of respondents for the information 
collection of Biometric Processing is 2,790 and the estimated hour 
burden per response is 1.17 hours.
    (6) An estimate of the total public burden (in hours) associated 
with the collection: The total estimated annual hour burden associated 
with this collection is 15,189 hours.
    (7) An estimate of the total public burden (in cost) associated 
with the collection: The estimated total annual cost burden associated 
with this collection of information is $1,308,077.

    Dated: May 7, 2021.
Samantha L. Deshommes,
Chief, Regulatory Coordination Division, Office of Policy and Strategy, 
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland 
Security.
[FR Doc. 2021-10108 Filed 5-12-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111-97-P