New EB-5 info posted at USCIS.gov

Just in time for this week’s quarterly EB-5 stakeholders meeting, USCIS has posted an Executive Summary for the 12/16/2010 meeting.  In addition to summarizing the content of the Meeting Presentation, this summary provides information from the Q&A session. A few highlights:

On the volume of Regional Center proposal filings, and high percentage of denials:
USCIS shared regional center filing receipts and final case actions in fiscal year 2010 highlighting that that 110 initial regional center proposals were received, 36 regional center proposals were approved while 30 were denied.  Also received in fiscal year 2010 were 42 amended regional center proposal filings, typically to modify the scope or activity to be conducted in a previously approved regional center. In the week prior to the implementation of the new forms, USCIS received 100 regional center initial and amended proposals, which equates to 65% of all regional center filings in FY 2010.  USCIS advised participants that the adjudication of this high volume of case filings will have an impact on processing times for Form I-924, Application for Regional Center under the Immigrant Investor Pilot Program.

Emphasizing the importance of the I-526 business plan:
At the I-526 stage, the agency is focused on analyzing whether the investment will create the required jobs within the conditional permanent residence period and in some limited instances within a reasonable time thereafter. What is most compelling at the I-526 stage is to have a solid business plan that transparently describes how the requisite jobs are going to be created within that timeframe.

On the question of whether it’s permissible to use EB-5 funds to pay off a loan:
If the project has essentially concluded and EB-5 capital is simply going to replace debt in which the jobs are already created through non EB-5 capital, this does not make a compelling argument that jobs were created as a result of the investment.