immigrant investor program news
September 28, 2010 2 Comments
Since August 16th, only one new Regional Center has appeared in the USCIS directory. In June USCIS reported 65 proposals pending, and only 12 approvals have appeared since then. Last I heard (June), USCIS was stating four months for Regional Center proposal processing, but I know of proposals submitted six months ago that are not yet through the pipeline. I wonder what’s going on at the California Service Center?
September 23, 2010 Leave a comment
The USCIS website posted today (9/23) “After Public Comment, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Announces Final Rule Adjusting Fees for Immigration Benefits.” The announcement confirms that beginning November 23,2010, Regional Center applications will have a filing fee of $6,230. (Fees for I-526 and I-829 petitions will also increase, to $1,500 and $3,750 respectively.) The forms can be downloaded for review from www.regulations.gov.
[Note: See my 11/22 Update for the final forms.] Fortunately for me, the Form I-924 still requires Regional Center applications to include business plans.
September 13, 2010 Leave a comment
PowerPoint presentation notes from six of the sessions at at the August 27 AILA EB-5 Investor CLE conference are available on the AILA website — and anyone can download them! AILA is usually more stingy with its non-members, so this is a happy surprise. I have also listened to recordings from the event, and especially recommend the “EB-5 Lore vs. EB-5 Law” and “Removal of Conditions” presentations.
September 13, 2010 Leave a comment
The USCIS list of approved Regional Centers shows an update as of today 9/13/2010. No new centers this time, but Arizona EB-5 Regional Center has changed its name to Green Card Fund.
September 13, 2010 Leave a comment
I was just listening to the panel on “Country-Specific Issues” from the August 2010 AILA EB-5 Investor CLE conference, and reminded of the significance of Korea for EB-5. Most new Regional Centers are rushing to China for investors, but keep in mind that 2009 was only China’s first year at the top of the list of EB-5 investors by country, a position formerly held for years by Korea. Fiscal Year 2009 still saw 903 EB-5 visas issued to Koreans, a significant number. Compared to the other markets discussed by the AILA panel — China, Iran, and Russia — Korea appears attractively simple, with fewer funds transfer, funds documentation, and consular issues to worry about. Marketers may want to note the Korea International Emigration and Investment Fair coming up in Busan (Sept 30) and Seoul (Oct 2-3).
September 9, 2010 Leave a comment
The USCIS Office of Public Engagement has now published notes from the last two national EB-5 stakeholder meetings.
June 16, 2010 EB-5 Stakeholder Meeting in Washington D.C.
Includes an executive summary and the useful EB-5 PowerPoint presentation prepared by USCIS.
December 14, 2009 EB-5 Teleconference
Includes questions prepared by AILA and IIUSA and answers provided during the conference.
September 7, 2010 2 Comments
The September 2010 issue of Voice, a publication of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, features an article introducing the EB-5 program. The author is Boyd Campbell, one of the principals of America’s Center for Foreign Investment, a regional center covering most of five states. The article doesn’t provide new information or insights, but does offer a useful overview of the program and practical considerations for immigration lawyers.
In other news, the USCIS list of approved Regional Centers was updated on 9/7 and 9/8, but not with any new centers.
September 2, 2010 Leave a comment
I just returned from Chicago, having participated in what proved to be an excellent series of seminars for EB-5 practitioners hosted by Wright Johnson, LLC and Artisan Business Group. While most EB-5 events aim at lawyers, these seminars benefited from being more practical than theoretical, and clearly presented the nuts and bolts of each piece of the Regional Center puzzle, from program background to proposal filing to economic analysis to corporate law and securities considerations to escrow arrangements to business plans to marketing.
The following is a list of topics and presenters, and I recommend anyone planning to set up a Regional Center to save time and headaches by contacting these people and begging a bit of the useful information and advice shared at the conference.
Immigration Law and EB-5 Program Description
Joseph C. McCarthy, MS JD of McAdam & McCarthyEconometrics and Project Planning
Kevin Wright of Wright JohnsonBusiness Plan Preparation
Suzanne Lazicki of Lucid Professional WritingCorporate Law
Jor Law and Michael Homeier of Homeier & Law, P.C.Escrow
Brian Terwilliger of NES FinancialRegional Center Resources and Networking
Michael Gibson of USAdvisors.org
Peter Joseph of Association to Invest in USARegional Center Marketing
Brian Su of Artisan Business Group
EB-5 Updates 