Concast 4: Immigration Update & Market Musings
Wizdom: “Update on Current Immigration Environment: EB-3 and EB-5 Visas“
Thuy’s Market Musings
By Thuy Tran, Andrew P.Johnson – July 13, 2026
Event Overview
Topic 1: Immigration Law Update (Guest: Andrew Johnson)
USCIS Discretionary Policy Shift
- The Policy Change: A new USCIS memo shifts green card adjudication to a discretionary “administrative grace” model rather than an automatic benefit. Officers now use a “totality of circumstances” evaluation, weighing positive and negative factors. Denials require written explanations, which will likely trigger increased legal appeals.
- Targeted Cases: The policy primarily targets individuals who have fallen out of status, worked without authorization, or have criminal histories—making marriage-based applications the hardest hit. The ultimate goal is to discourage out-of-status tourists or students from adjusting status domestically, pushing them to process abroad.
Impact on Employment and EB-5 Categories
- Low Impact on “Clean” Cases: Applications with consistent lawful status remain unaffected and continue to receive straight approvals.
- EB-5 and EB-3 Outlook: Employment-based (EB-3) and EB-5 investors generally meet positive discretionary criteria (financial stability, tax filings, economic benefit) by default. They are highly unlikely to face intense scrutiny under the new guidelines.
- Implementation & Program Status: The policy is already active, and some attorneys have received RFEs based on these new standards. Separately, the EB-5 program remains ongoing and favored by the administration, allowing concurrent adjustment of status in the U.S. during its standard 2-to-5-year legislative reauthorization cycles.
Topic 2: Market Musings (Thuy Tran)
- Margin Deleveraging: Data suggests that increased margin use by Retail and Institutional investors has been a key driver of the rally from the March lows. Recent market weakness indicates margin reduction.
- Market Drivers: The current market is driven by thematic forces like de-globalization, protectionism, and AI disruption.across business models and sectors
- Investment Strategy: There is a growing differentiation between tech companies successfully monetizing AI and those merely incurring high capital expenditures.
- Active vs. Passive: Active management strategies may be better positioned to capture alpha in this environment, as passive indexing may expose investors to unnecessary risk.
- Guidance Focus: Investors should prioritize corporate earnings guidance for the second half of the year over current Q2 reporting results.
- Community Announcements: “Kinetic Collective” We officially launched this initiative to foster industry collaboration and knowledge sharing.
- Upcoming Sessions: Stay tuned for future concast featuring financial literacy programs, AI business optimization, and education funding initiatives in SE Asia.
Meet the Speakers & Guests
Thuy Tran
Chief Investment Officer at KUYR
Andrew P.Johnson
Managing Partner
Featured Moments
Topic 1: Immigration Law Update (Guest: Andrew Johnson)
Topic 2: Market Musings (Thuy Tran)
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