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During its most recent stakeholders teleconference, U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) reminded participants that regional center reports for 2015 Fiscal Year were due on October 1, 2015, and must be filed by no later than December 29, 2015. USCIS recommended that regional centers complete all fields on Form I-924A, and timely file the required reports. Continue reading “EB-5 Regional Center Annual Reports are Due by December 29, 2015”
If it’s not bad news, it won’t get good ratings? When Nightline recently reported on the EB-5 program, “Whistleblowers: US gave visas to suspected Forgers, Fraudsters, Criminals,” alleging that it is prone to fraud, they were looking for good ratings. Why not report on what the EB-5 program does for the U.S. economy? Why not report about foreign nationals bringing large amounts of money to the U.S. to invest in businesses with the requirement that they create full time jobs for TEN U.S. WORKERS? Continue reading “Come on, Nightline?!”
On February 11, 2015, U.S. Immigration & Citizenship Services released an updated EB-5 Processing Report reflecting average processing times for the Immigrant Investor Program Office as of December 31, 2014. Continue reading “USCIS Updates EB-5 Processing Time Information”
Last October, we advised our readers that U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) had sent out several Notices of Intent to Terminate (NOITT) regional center designation to various regional centers around the nation. We also warned that this appeared to be an upcoming enforcement trend by USCIS to address complaints of fraud and abuse in the EB-5 Regional Center Program. Continue reading “USCIS Terminates 16 EB-5 Regional Centers”
On December 5, 2014, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) held a stakeholder conference call to update individuals interested in the Immigrant Investor Program (commonly referred to as the EB-5 Program). Continue reading “EB-5 Public Engagement Update”
In recent years, as raising capital has become more difficult for developers and the waiting time for green cards has increased for immigrants from certain countries, the popularity of the EB-5 Regional Center Program (also known as the Investor Pilot Program) has skyrocketed. On the one hand, that is great news for developers and investors alike. On the other hand, the parties have to be careful to make sure the prospective investment in the developer’s project is structured in a way that complies with the Pilot Program’s requirements and makes it enticing to foreign investors. Continue reading “EB-5: A Creative Financing Option for U.S. Developers and Businesses”
Bipartisan immigration reform in an election year? And it creates jobs without adding to the deficit? Too good to be true? Well, earlier this year, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt) introduced legislation—co-sponsored by five Republicans (Sens. Collins, Grassley, Hatch, Lee & Rubio) and three Democrats (Sens. Conrad, Kohl & Schumer)—to extend the EB-5 Regional Center Program for three years.[1] After several amendments, that legislation was passed unanimously by the United States Senate.[2] It later passed the House of Representatives by a 412-3 vote and was ultimately signed into law by President Barack Obama. The legislation, as enacted, extends the EB-5 Regional Center Program—which had been set to expire on September 30, 2012—for an additional three years.[3] Continue reading “The EB-5 Program: The Road to Citizenship Less Traveled”