4/13 Hearing, 2016 AAO Decisions (NCE requirement), RC List Changes

April 7, 2016 Leave a comment

Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing Rescheduled 4/13
The Senate Judiciary Committee’s provocatively titled hearing on The Distortion of EB-5 Targeted Employment Areas: Time to End the Abuse has been rescheduled for Wednesday April 13th.  The hearing will be streamed live at the above link.

AAO Decisions: Regional Center NCE, Jobs Allocation, At Risk Requirement
Several 2016 AAO decisions on I-526 cases have been posted on the USCIS website. I’m particularly interested in MAR252016_02B7203 (and the nearly identical _03 and _04), which deal with a regional center investment. Here’s what I’m particularly surprised or intrigued to hear AAO saying in the MAR252015 cases:

  • In the Regional Center context, the job-creating entity’s history and creation date are not relevant to the question of whether EB-5’s “new” commercial enterprise requirement has been met. When the regional center investment involves a new commercial enterprise and a separate job-creating enterprise, only the NCE has to qualify as “new.” In making this point, AAO argues against a position commonly taken by USCIS. In the MAR252016 case, the petitioner invested in a limited partnership formed in 2013 that deployed capital in a hospital established in the 1960s. In its denial, USCIS predictably cited Matter of Soffici and indicated that the NCE requirement wouldn’t be met unless the hospital were restructured or substantially expanded. (Soffici deals with a new enterprise’s purchase of an old hotel and says “It is the job creating business that must be examined in determining whether a new commercial enterprise has been created”.) AAO countered that: “We disagree with the Chief’s analysis. Soffici, unlike this case, did not involve a regional center project.” AAO argues that the relevant precedent is rather Matter of Izummi, which did deal with a regional center case, and “In Izummi, when determining what constituted a ‘new commercial enterprise’, we reviewed the date of creation of the entity in which a petitioner had invested or intended to invest, not the job creating entity where the funds were ultimately to be deployed.”
  • A petitioner can’t get credit for any jobs created by the project if the project didn’t create enough jobs for all EB-5 investors in the project (unless there is an agreement among all investors about how jobs will be allocated). In the MAR252016 case, AAO wouldn’t consider whether any of the 61 new jobs finally claimed could be credited to the petitioner, since there were 11 other EB-5 investors in the project and no job allocation agreement on file. This is not new policy, but an important reminder. Make and file a job allocation agreement, just in case!
  • An EB-5 investment does not meet the “at risk” requirement if the business plan does not “present a comprehensive analysis of the potential net profit available for distribution to each of the limited partners” and therefore fails to “sufficiently establish that there is a reasonable chance for gain, especially in the foreseeable future.” This is not technically a new point (the full “at risk” requirement is “at risk for the purpose of generating a return on the capital placed at risk”), but I haven’t seen AAO/USCIS focus on insufficient profit analysis as a basis for denial.

I’ll let you read the MAR252016 decisions for yourself to get the rest of the story. The case also involves the hot issues of troubled business qualification and the separation of ownership, management, and employment among multiple entities, and AAO doesn’t raise all the questions or reach all the conclusions I would’ve expected. What AAO doesn’t say in this case may be as significant as the points that are made. To assist in following the case, I’ve done my best to illustrate the fact pattern (reading around redactions, so mistakes are possible).
Fig-1UPDATE: You can read more about this case in a civil suit filed by the petitioners. (Update: the petitioners won the suit.)

AAO Decisions: Search Function
The Administrative Appeals Office has launched a search tool for most non-precedent decisions since 2005. Just enter a search term in the box under “AAO Non-Precedent Decision Repository” and poof – links to all AAO decisions where that term is mentioned, with sorting options. I love it. (And now regret that weekend spent downloading EB-5 decisions one by one to make my own searchable master file.)

Regional Center List Changes
Additions to the USCIS Regional Center List, 03/21/2016 to 04/05/2016

Terminations

  • Path America KingCo, LLC (Washington), Terminated 3/23/2016
  • MCIG Regional Center (Florida) Terminated 3/29/2016
  • Velocity Regional Center (California), Terminated 3/24/2016

Filed under EB-5 Events, EB-5 Law & Policy, New RC

Q1 2016 Petition Processing Stats, RC List Changes

March 22, 2016 Leave a comment

Petition Processing Trends

The USCIS Citizenship and Immigration Data page has been updated with data on I-526 and I-829 petition processing in the first quarter of fiscal year 2016 (aka October to December 2015).  The numbers are not heartening. Investor Program Office petition processing volume peaked in April-June 2015, and progressively lost ground over the following quarters.  In Q1 2016, IPO processed 355 more I-829 petitions but 933 fewer I-526s than in the previous quarter.  The I-829 gains are nice, but then the I-829 backlog is only a dire 4,000+ petitions while the I-526 backlog is an extremely dire near-22,000 petitions. IPO cannot afford to be processing fewer and fewer I-526s, or fewer EB-5 petitions overall. The number of I-526 receipts is also striking. We expected the surge in July to September 2015, in advance of the possible September 30th Regional Center Program sunset date, but the numbers show that the surge continued through December. That’s two quarters in a row with over 6,000 I-526 filings each. The program can’t handle many quarters like that, considering that only about 10,000 EB-5 visas are available per year for investors plus family members (not to mention the fact that IPO has only managed to process about 3,000 I-526s a quarter at best). In addition to slowing I-526 processing over the course of the year, IPO got tougher, denying 8% of I-526 petitions processed in Q3 2015, 15% in Q4 2015, and 23% in Q1 2016.
I526q12016
I829q12016
pendingq12016

Regional Center List Updates

Additions to the USCIS Regional Center List, 03/01/2016 to 03/21/2016.

  • American Lending Center Ohio, LLC (Ohio): usa-rc.com
  • American National Regional Center Southern California (California)
  • Discovery Florida, LLC (Florida)
  • East West Global Regional Center (California)
  • Fairhaven Capital Advisors Regional Center (Colorado)
  • MCFI Mississippi / Louisiana (Mississippi): www.mcfiusa.com
  • MCFI New York / New Jersey / Connecticut (Connecticut, New Jersey, New York): www.mcfiusa.com
  • Midwestern Investments For America, LLC (Ohio)
  • Nevada Regional Center Enterprises (Nevada)
  • New York Renaissance Regional Center, LLC (Connecticut, New Jersey, New York)
  • Reliant Regional Center (Minnesota): www.relianteb5.com
  • Socal Investment Regional Center (California)
  • Southwest Florida Regional Center, LLC (Florida)
  • TriHaven Investment Group Southern California (California)

Name Changes:

  • Southern California Commercial Regional Center LLC (former name US Commercial Regional Center) (California)
  • Charter Investor Financial (former name Charter USA Financial LLC) (Florida)

Filed under EB-5 Statistics, New RC

2015 Visa Statistics by Country, RC list changes

March 7, 2016 Leave a comment

2015 Visa Statistics
The US Department of State has finally published Section V. of Report of the Visa Office 2015, so we now have figures by country for all EB-5 visas issued in FY2015. (Last December I reported numbers from Section VI of the report, which only reflects EB-5 visas issued at consulates.) Here is my updated summary table.
2015visastats
DOS issued over 10,000 EB-5 visas in 2014, and fewer than 10,000 in 2015. China continues to dominate the list of countries, but with a smaller percentage of total visas in 2015 than 2014. Vietnam topped the list of countries claiming an increased number of visas in 2015, while China, South Korea, and Mexico showed significant decrease between 2014 and 2015. It’s interesting to note the number of visas issued to applicants from islands (including British and French territories) and wonder how many of these may be for applicants originally from more difficult countries who got intermediate citizenship. In terms of use, visas for regional center investments (98.4% of total) and TEA investments (99.2% of total) were even more dominant in 2015 than 2014. I assume that visa numbers for 2015 mainly reflect investments made in 2012-2014 (considering processing and wait times) by about 4,440 investors (assuming average 2.2 visas per investor). FYI here is my post with summary table for the 2014 Visa Office report. And note that IIUSA has a handy Investor Origin Map showing EB-5 investments by country.

Regional Center List Updates

Changes to the USCIS Regional Center List, 2/10/2016 to 03/01/2016

New Approvals:

  • EB-5 Bonds Texas-Oklahoma, LLC (Oklahoma, Texas)
  • Future Resources, Inc. (California): fureinc.com
  • Index Regional Center, LLC (Florida)
  • Rainier Valley RC LLC (Washington)

Name Changes:

  • Florida First Regional Center, LLC (former name USEGF Florida Regional Center) (Florida)

Terminations:

  • Luca Energy Fund Regional Center (Louisiana, Texas): Terminated 2/2/2016
  • U.S. Investment Regional Center, LLC (Arizona): Terminated 2/22/2016

Filed under EB-5 Statistics, New RC

H.R.4530, Resources, RC List Update

February 12, 2016 Leave a comment

H.R.4530 Introduced
Even as Representatives Goodlatte, Conyers, Issa, and Lofgren (who worked with Senators Leahy and Grassley on their legislation last year) were speaking in yesterday’s House EB-5 hearing about how they think EB-5 incentives are misused and need to be re-oriented, representatives Polis and Amodei introduced H.R.4530-EB-5 Integrity Act of 2016, a bill that proposes to keep current EB-5 incentives in place. I’ve added the bill to my comparison chart, but you don’t need to read it; H.R.4530 is a carbon copy of Senator Flake’s S.2415 (and FYI entirely different from the H.R. 616 American Entrepreneurship and Investment Act of 2015 introduced by Polis and Amodei last January). I don’t know whom to cheer in this legislative mix. The Grassley/Leahy camp bill included at least one provision that would touch and could hurt (sometimes even fatally) each segment of the regional center world, while the Flake/Polis camp bill is crafted to ensure that the current winners don’t get their boats rocked and keep winning, with TEA incentives and the investment amount the same and the kind of integrity measures that conveniently double as anti-competitive measures. Diversity in the regional center world can be a problem, because fragmented markets are hard to work with and small-scale players have a relative probability of being unprofessional if not rogue and causing trouble. On the other hand, diversity means that EB-5 is relatively likely to fund the kind of projects that Congressional representatives want to see to help justify the regional center program — the hotels in third tier cities, the logistics companies in blighted industrial areas, the affordable housing, the entertainment and agricultural projects in rural areas, and so on. If regional center investment becomes all small safe loans to luxury developments in gateway cities, then immigrant investors will benefit but the American public, media, and Congress may turn against what looks like essentially a low-bar green card purchase transaction plus jobs-neutral government subsidy for attractive projects that would’ve proceeded anyway, just more expensively without the green card incentive to lower capital costs. On the other hand, the cause of integrity would not be advanced by deciding to limit the regional center program to unattractive projects entirely dependent on hapless foreign investors, or providing too much leeway for issuers that lack resources to operate professionally. If I were called to testify, I don’t know what changes I’d suggest to maximize EB-5’s potential benefits and minimize risks.

Resources
This quarter’s editions of the Regional Center Business Journal and EB-5 Investors Magazine (so far just out in paper form, but to be posted here soon) both have a number of great articles. In RCBJ, I particularly appreciated “What we Learn From SEC Investigation” by Ronald Fieldstone and Jay Rosen, who provide a comprehensive review of the types of violations that get investigated by the SEC, the specific activities that are focus of investigations, and the SEC investigation process from subpoena through discovery, deposition, negotiation and settlement. Lili Wang writes helpfully in RCBJ about the question we all ask “What Do Chinese Migration Agents Really Want?”, and EB-5 Investors Magazine also takes up this theme with two interesting migration agent interviews. Gregory White, Mark Katzoff and Angelo Paparelli authored an article for v.3.3 EB5 Investors Magazine (that I hope will soon be available online) on the important topic of “Avoiding the Inadvertent Investment Company.” The article describes how a regional center or issuer may avoid (and what will happen if it doesn’t avoid) being tagged as an investment company, including possible rescission, ineligibility to satisfy the EB-5 “at risk” capital rules and a duty to register as an investment advisor. EB5 Diligence also had a webinar this week on the topic Are Regional Centers Acting As Unregistered Investment Advisors? Another hot topic is the “rent-a-center” model for regional center investment, which has become increasingly popular and has also appeared in the cross-hairs of some legislative reform proposals. Rohit Kapuria has posted a thoughtful article Is the EB-5 Regional Center “Pure” Rental Model Sustainable?, and EB5 Projects will host a free webinar on 2/23 concerning Immigration & Securities Issues with Renting Buying & Selling an EB-5 Visa Regional Center.

USCIS Engagement Notes
USCIS has updated the 2/3 EB-5 Stakeholder invitation page with copies of the written opening statements made by Nicholas Colucci, Julia Harrison, and Lori MacKenzie. Also FYI I keep a master directory of USCIS EB-5 stakeholder meetings and a handy searchable PDF compilation of all published meeting notes (for those times when you can remember USCIS discussing a topic but forget where and when).

Processing Times
Not that we put much stock in IPO processing time averages (at least not without keeping a 10-month or so standard deviation in mind), but USCIS Processing Time Information has been updated as of 12/31/2016: 16 months for I-526, 16.2 months for I-829, and 8.5 months for I-924 (all up about 0.5 months from the previous report).

Regional Center List Changes
Additions to the USCIS Regional Center List, 01/28/2016 to 2/10/2016.

  • Bluegrass International Fund, LLC (Indiana, Kentucky): www.bluegrass-fund.com
  • East Coast Regional Center, LLC (New Jersey, New York)
  • Howard Hughes Hawaii Regional Center, LLC (Hawaii)
  • Mid-Atlantic Regional Center (Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania): aseb5.com
  • Yellow Rock Regional Center of Washington, LLC (Washington)

Renamed:

  • Florida East Coast EB5 Regional Center LLC (former name United States Growth Fund, LLC) (Florida)
  • Prosperity Regional Center (former name U.S. Prosperity Regional Center) (Florida)
  • Investus LLC (former name New Mexico Foreign Investments LLC) (New Mexico)
  • New York Dream Regional Center LLC (former name Tri-State USA Regional Center) (New York)

Filed under EB-5 Law & Policy, EB-5 Resources, New RC

2/2 Senate Hearing Detail

February 2, 2016 Leave a comment

If you are involved in the regional center program, you should review what happened today in the Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on “The Failures and Future of the EB-5 Regional Center Program: Can it be Fixed?” We heard testimony from IPO Chief Nicholas Colucci and SEC Division of Enforcement Associate Director Stephen Cohen, statements by Senators Grassley, Leahy, and Feinstein, and an extensive question and answer period that brought in Senators Cornyn, Schumer, Flake, Blumenthal, Tillis, Sessions, Perdue, and Klobuchar. The judiciary committee website link above currently has video of the hearing and written statements by Grassley, Leahy, Colucci, and Cohen. (After watching the video be sure to read the statements, as they are very informative and include content beyond what their authors said in the hearing.) In case the video disappears, I’ve also uploaded my audio recording of the hearing. (Also, see this post for more on the letter from DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson, which was frequently referenced in the hearing.)

I don’t know whether Senator Grassley came away from this hearing with further clarity on the character and prospects of regional centers, but we definitely get a fascinating view of the thinking and activities going on behind the scenes now at USCIS, at the SEC, and in Congress relative to the RC program. The senators present largely advocated for fixing not nixing (or mending not ending) the program (except for Senator Feinstein, who called for an end and also pressed her odd belief that USCIS and the SEC should specially investigate the victims in a fraud case). The senators expressed general commitment to reform while differing in their diagnosis of the nature and magnitude of problems, and in their visions for what the RC program should be. Perhaps most interesting, the senators drew out Chief Colucci to discuss specific integrity measures and program changes that are already in place and in the pipeline at USCIS, regardless of legislation.

Filed under EB-5 Law & Policy, Updates from USCIS

RC Hearing, RC List Update

January 29, 2016 1 Comment

2/2 Hearing on the Regional Center Program
The Senate Judiciary Committee/Senator Grassley have titled next week’s hearing “The Failures and Future of the EB-5 Regional Center Program: Can it be Fixed?” Good heavens! No wonder journalists started calling me yesterday wondering what’s blowing up in EB-5, and disappointed to discover that this insider knows a thousand boring little problems but no big story of pervasive failure to justify such a hearing title. But tis the season for politics, and EB-5 can appear as a golden opportunity to bash immigration plus the wealthy plus real estate developers plus Commies plus New Yorkers all in one rabble-pleasing blow. And Regional Centers may just have to get in line with police officers and Muslim Americans as victims of our politicians’ inclination to profile entire communities based on a few isolated actors. If I were a typical regional center innocently engaged in unremarkable project finance, I’d be worried about a powerful Congressman asking “do you have a future and can you be fixed?” while under the impression that I’m failing and am inherently likely to be facilitating terrorist travel, economic espionage, money laundering, and investment fraud. Hopefully the hearing will call speakers who provide our leaders a more accurate impression of what’s actually going on in the regional center program. The hearing will stream live on the Senate Judiciary Committee website at 10 am EST on Tuesday Feb. 2.

New RCs
Meanwhile, USCIS continues to process EB-5 applications and petitions. The average posted I-526 processing time jumped to 15.5 months as of 11/30/2015 (up from 12.8 months reported as of 10/31). USCIS has also updated the regional center list, and posted a new PDF file that gives the identification number for each regional center. I can’t think how this could possibly help anyone (what we need, USCIS, is for you to please post the designation letters that show who’s behind these RCs and what you’ve approved them for), but the list with ID numbers is there FYI.

Additions to the USCIS Regional Center List, 1/14/2016 to 01/28/2016.

  • Ashcroft/Sullivan New England Economic Development Center (Massachusetts, Rhode Island): aseb5.com
  • Liongate Regional Center, LLC (Washington)
  • MCFI Nevada (Nevada):www.mcfiusa.com

Renamed:

  • Central Western Regional Center LLC (former name USA Midwest Regional Center LLC) (Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin)
  • Green Card Solutions Regional Center (former name Shrimp House US LLC) (Florida)

Filed under EB-5 Law & Policy, New RC

SEC Priority Review, RC List Update

January 18, 2016 Leave a comment

SEC Review of EB-5 Offerings in 2016
The Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations at the Securities and Exchange Commission has named EB-5 in its list of Examination Priorities for 2016. Specifically OCIE promises that “We will review private placements, including offerings involving Regulation D of the Securities Act of 1933 or the Immigrant Investor Program (“EB-5 Program”) to evaluate whether legal requirements are being met in the areas of due diligence, disclosure, and suitability.” To remind yourself of the particular due diligence, disclosure, and suitability requirements that pertain to a private placement, see the article Private Placements Under Regulation D published at investor.gov. This article gives a short and clear summary overview as well as links to government sources with additional information. Be sure you review your offering for compliance before the SEC does. For links to EB-5-specific commentary from consultants, see the Securities Issues & EB-5 section of my Resources page.

USCIS Regional Center List Updates

Changes to the USCIS Regional Center List, 12/22/2015 to 1/14/2016

Newly Designated:

  • American Lending Center New York Regional Center, LLC (New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania): www.usa-rc.com
  • American Pioneer Regional Center, LLC (Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin)
  • Americas Green Card Regional Center (Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire): www.americasgreencardcenter.com
  • Colorado Headwaters RC, LLC (Colorado)
  • Florida EB-5 Quantum Investments, LLC (Florida)
  • Future American Now Regional Center, LLC (Florida)
  • Savannah World Trade Center for Investment, LLC (Georgia)
  • VR EB-5 Express, LLC (Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island)
  • West Virginia EB-5 Regional Center, LLC (West Virginia): eb5affiliatenetwork.com

Renamed:

  • Immigration Funds LLC (former name United States Investors Regional Center) (Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire)
  • Mebo Property Development Regional Center, LLC (former name Mebo Property Development LLC ) (California)
  • New England Family Regional Center LLC (former name New England Federal Regional Center) (Connecticut)
  • Golden Gate Global (former name San Francisco Bay Area Regional Center) (California)

Terminated:

  • Chicago Regional Center (Illinois)

Filed under EB-5 Resources, New RC

Updates and RC List Changes

December 23, 2015 4 Comments

Updates

  • IPO Processing Times: Average I-526 and I-924 processing times both show marked improvement in the most recent IPO update from the USCIS website.
    IPO1015
  • New AAO Decisions: A couple more AAO decisions on I-526 cases have been uploaded to the 2015 folder on the USCIS website. DEC042015_02B7203 (Matter of H-Y-) is particularly colorful. The petitioner took a path common to failed EB-5 petitions: apparently trying to put an existing business into a new shell and sell it as a new business with job creation. But she met with aggressive investigation from the USCIS adjudicator, who sorted evidence with a fine-toothed comb and searched out company information online and even called the business and talked to an employee.
  • The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has published a 118-page
    Report on the Review of the Definition of “Accredited Investor” (December 18, 2015)
  • EB-5 Legislation: I’ve decided not to give regular legislative updates, assuming that you have your own sources if you care about this topic, and that I should resist the comments I’m tempted to make. (There have been several recent additions to the legislative sausage factory– see the IIUSA blog for links. The EB5 Insights blog discusses a substantive new Manhattan-approved entry in detail.)

Regional Center List Changes
New approvals and name changes on the USCIS Regional Center List, 12/08/2015 to 12/22/2015

  • American Immigration Group-NYRC (Connecticut, New Jersey, New York): eb5aig.net
  • American Lending Center Georgia, LLC (Georgia): www.usedlc.com
  • New Empire EB-5 Regional Center, LLC (Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania)
  • QueensFort Capital California Regional Center, LLC (California): queensforteb5.com
  • Seattle Pacific Area Regional Center, LLC (Washington)
  • South Pacific Regional Center, LLC (Hawaii)
  • Texas Coast Regional Center Corporation (Texas)

Renamed:

  • Continental Regional Center LLC (former name USA Continental Regional Center, LLC) (California)
  • Fleet New York Metropolitan Regional Center LLC (former name Federal New York Metropolitan Regional Center) (New York)
  • Invest Midwest Regional Center (former name Civitas Indiana Regional Center) (Indiana)
  • CUCC Business Regional Center, Inc (former name U.S. Business Regional Center Inc.) (New York)

Additions to the list of Terminated Regional Centers

  • Twin Development LLC Regional Center (Washington) terminated 12/8/2015

Filed under EB-5 Resources, New RC

2015 Visa Statistics, RC Termination, SEC Action, New RCs

December 10, 2015 2 Comments

2015 EB-5 Visa Statistics

Update: The corrected summary data table can be found in my 3/7/2016 post 2015 Visa Statistics by Country.

Other Items of Note

  • SEC Action on Attorneys: We’ve known for months that the SEC has been pursuing a crack-down on unlicensed persons acting as unregistered brokers, and specifically: immigration attorneys who take compensation for selling EB-5 investors on projects, despite lacking qualifications and licensure to give investment advice. Here is a copy of the SEC’s detailed complaint against one law office: SEC v. Hui Feng and Law Offices of Feng & Associates P.C. This 7/12/2015 article in Mondo Visione lists seven other individuals and firms who have also settled enforcement actions with the SEC, and links to copies of the Cease and Desist order for each. Honestly, I feared to see a lot more names on this list, but perhaps the SEC is starting with a warning shot and giving time for others to get their affairs in order. The detailed Feng complaint is good reading for anyone who receives or pays commissions for selling EB-5 investments, as the SEC goes into detail about what exactly was wrong and why it was wrong in the Feng case.
  • Regional Center Termination: One of the Regional Centers terminated in 2015 was brave enough to fight back, and now we can read about its case in the Administrative Appeals Office decision Matter of K-R-C, LLC, dated November 17, 2015. AAO dismissed the appeal, as nearly always happens, but it’s interesting to see what kind of evidence USCIS considered significant, the issues judged to be problematic, and the timeline of USCIS’s interactions with the Regional Center. A moral of this denial, as with so many other cases anatomized by the AAO, is the overwhelming importance of clear and clean paperwork. The case focuses on little things like how expenditures were coded on this or that document and how statements were worded on this or that filing and whether the proper reports were made at the proper time. This denial decision doesn’t go so far as trying to prove problems with the business itself, but terminates the RC based on issues apparent in the paperwork describing the business. Spend good money on your secretaries and bookkeepers and document preparers, because their humble work pushing papers and keeping numbers in order and documents in line could prove essential.
  • I-829 Approvals and Denials: I don’t expect anyone besides Mr. Whalen to click on this link, but FYI a very heavily redacted file titled I-829 RFEs, denials and approvals for NY and FL during 2009-2010 has appeared in the USCIS FOIA Reading Room in the Employment Based Petitions category. Connoisseurs may be interested in reviewing the I-829 RFE template used in 2009-2010 and seeing which lawyers were filing I-829 back then.
  • Legislative Update: Whatever I hear, I add to the first paragraph of my previous post.

New Regional Centers
Additions to the USCIS Regional Center List, 12/03/2015 to 12/08/2015

  • LCR Atlantic Gulf Regional Center (Florida, Georgia) www.lcrcapital.com
  • Southern California EB-5 Regional Center, LLC (California)

Filed under EB-5 Law & Policy, EB-5 Statistics, New RC

Legislative Update, New RCs

December 4, 2015 Leave a comment

Legislative Update (see paragraph end for continuing updates)
It looks as if the Regional Center program may get reauthorized next week after all, with significant but not terminal changes. The chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees have reached an agreement on a reform package that may be included in the omnibus appropriations legislation that Congress is working on to fund the federal government past December 11. IIUSA’s Board of Directors has voted in favor of the legislation, stating in a letter to members that “we believe that, on balance, the bill achieves real reform with minimal disruption to ongoing job-creating economic activity and establishes a fair market for attracting investors going forward, with everyone under the same rules at the same time.” See IIUSA’s blog post and Senator Leahy’s press release, which includes a one-page summary and link to a discussion draft of the legislation (version MDM15J00 of American Job Creation and Investment Promotion Reform Act of 2015). See also Senator Grassley’s press release. The WSJ blog’s post Fight Over Green Card Investor Program May be Near End discusses the proposal’s supporters and opponents. Michael Homeier’s 12/7 email and 12/9 email and Martin Lawler’s 12/9 post share insiders views of on-going lobbying efforts. As reported by IIUSA on 12/11:

Today, the House passed a short-term funding bill (H.J. 2250) by a voice vote to avoid a government shutdown. The original EB-5 extension is included. Yesterday, the Senate passed the short-term, five-day continuing resolution (CR) by unanimous consent, giving lawmakers until December 16th to pass a long-term spending bill for the rest of fiscal year 2016.
Senate leaders have noted that they will not vote on a funding bill until the House does.  As a result, Congressional leaders will be facing a tight deadline due to the nature of Senate procedure.
Reports indicate that the House may vote on a long-term funding bill as early as Tuesday, December 15th.  As soon as the House passes a bill, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is expected to file cloture on the funding measure immediately, forcing Senators to wait 30 hours before they can vote on final passage and send a budget bill to President Obama to be signed into law. Negotiations between House Republicans and Democrats are ongoing and IIUSA continues to provide updates on the status of those negotiations.
Now that the fate of EB-5 legislation is firmly linked to the omnibus appropriations legislation, I keep watching The Hill site for new “spending bill” articles, which report on progress of that legislation.
12/15 Update: Here is a link to the finalized Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016 [Consolidated Appropriations and Tax Measures]. Page 708 has a simple extension of the Regional Center program to September 30, 2016, and I can’t find any other EB-5 changes.

New and Renamed Regional Centers
Meanwhile, USCIS is still busily adjudicating Regional Center applications, and accepting name changes from RCs affected by the Cautions on Names of Regional Centers.

Additions to the USCIS Regional Center List, 11/12/2015 to 12/03/2015.

  • American Lending Center Florida, LLC (Florida)
  • American Lending Center Illinois, LLC (Illinois)
  • Bart Investment Group, LLC (Florida)
  • Chicago First Regional Center Inc (Illinois)
  • EB5 Group New York Regional Center, LLC (Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania) www.eb5groupllc.com
  • EB5 Land Regional Center (Washington)
  • First American Regional Center, LLC (California)
  • Golden Sun Development Regional Center (Washington)
  • Greater New York Business Regional Center (New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania)
  • High Stone Regional Center, LLC (Connecticut, New Jersey, New York)
  • Lifezone Development Regional Center (Washington)
  • ON Regional Center, LLC (California)
  • Piedmont Regional Center, Inc. (Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee)
  • Sino Indus BK Capital LLC (New Jersey, Pennsylvania)

Renamed:

  • AFC Regional Center LLC (former name New York Federal Regional Center) (New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania)
  • West Maingate Regional Center, LLC (former name US Maingate Regional Center, LLC) (California)
  • American Lending Center LLC (former name United States Employment Development Lending Center) (California)
  • Greystone EB5 Southeast Regional Center LLC (former name Greystone Florida Regional Center LLC) (Florida)
  • Harris Real Estate Fund LLC (former name U.S. Federal Investment Immigration Fund, LLC) (Arizona)

Filed under EB-5 Law & Policy, New RC

USCIS Posts New I-924A Filing Tips

December 3, 2015 1 Comment

USCIS has just put up tips for completing the Form I-924A that all Regional Centers need to file by December 29th. Better late than never! (All links below direct to the same page at the USCIS website.)

 

Section I:  Form I-924A Basics

Section II: Completing the Form

Section III: Filing Tips

Section IV: Notices of Intent to Terminate (NOITs) / Suggestions to Possibly Avoid Them

Filed under Updates from USCIS

FY2015 I-526 and I-829 Statistics

November 19, 2015 Leave a comment

USCIS has published Q4 2015 processing data for I-526 and I-829 petitions on its Immigration and Citizenship Data page.
I’m copying below charts that I made from the data. For those who prefer words, here are a few points that I notice.

  • I-526: FY2015 saw a huge number of I-526 filings – over 14,000 receipts (with 46% filed in the fourth quarter in a surge prior to possible program changes). Assuming that only about 10,000 EB-5 visas can be issued in a year, and an average of 2.2 visas per investor I-526, then this year’s receipts alone will take up over three years-worth of available EB-5 visas. FY2015 ended with over 17,000 petitions pending, which would take up nearly four years of available EB-5 visas. USCIS has shown impressive year-on-year improvements in the number of I-526 petitions processed, up 32% in 2014 and 42% in 2015. USCIS even briefly caught up to the number of receipts in Q3 2015, but then got snowed under again with the blizzard of filings in Q4 2015.
  • I-829: A similar volume of I-829 petitions were filed in 2014 and 2015, but with very different distributions over the year (an increasing number of receipts by quarter in 2014 and decreasing number by quarter in 2015). Overall FY2015 had 10% fewer receipts than the previous year, but I don’t know whether to call a puzzling trend or just note seasonality. The IPO office at USCIS, which took over I-829 processing at the end of 2014, got a slow start but picked up speed and managed to process 467 I-829 petitions in Q4 2015. In all IPO processed over a thousand I-829s in FY2015, but ended the year with a backlog of over four thousand petitions. We hope that IPO picks up the pace so that the I-829 backlog alone doesn’t take four years to process.


And because it’s topical, though I doubt the significance of these averages, here’s a chart with the latest update to IPO processing times.
IPOtimes

Filed under EB-5 Statistics, Updates from USCIS

Legislative Update, Due Diligence, New I-485, New RCs

November 13, 2015 Leave a comment

Legislative Update
We are now less than a month from December 12, when the Regional Center program will sunset if it doesn’t get another reauthorization. It’s possible that the program could get temporarily extended as part of the appropriations bill that also needs to get passed by December 11 (which would mean extension with no change through 9/30/2016), or there might be stand-alone legislation with some significant changes and reform as well as reauthorization, or our representatives might let the program lapse for a while because they haven’t worked out appropriate legislation in time but don’t want to see simple extension. Grassley, Corker, and Johnson sent a letter on 11/6 to Senate leadership saying that they oppose a straight reauthorization of the EB-5 Regional Center program in the anticipated appropriations bill that will cover fiscal year 2016, and advocate instead to continue the program together with measures to increase accountability and better guard against fraud and abuse. We wish they would hustle to formulate such measures. Grassley and Leahy have been quietly circulating a revised draft of S. 1501 (IIUSA has a copy, as do select real estate industry executives according to the Wall Street Journal Washington Wire blog). I’ve read the draft but decided not to comment here until it gets officially proposed. The new draft is significantly clarified and toned down from the original bill, though still a game-changer. But will passable legislation be proposed in time to make any difference? If only Washington worked more efficiently!

Due Diligence
I appreciated the article “EB-5 Due Diligence Matters” (November 3, 2015) by Douglas Hauer, John Nucci, and Peter Saparoff of Mintz Levin. The authors discuss the legal requirements for due diligence investigations and give practice pointers.

Form I-485 Update
USCIS has published new editions of the Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status and Supplements

New Regional Centers
Additions to the USCIS Regional Center List, 11/02/2015 to 11/12/2015

  • EB5 Capital Oregon Regional Center (Oregon, Washington): www.eb5capital.com
  • Empire Regional Center, LLC (New Jersey, New York)
  • Great Southern Regional Center (Georgia, South Carolina)
  • North Valley Regional Center (California)
  • Proficiency Regional Center LLC (California)

Filed under EB-5 in the News, EB-5 Law & Policy, EB-5 Resources, New RC

Update on RC Renewal, Articles (Retrogression, SEC), New and Removed RCs

November 3, 2015 Leave a comment

Legislative Update
Last week Congress passed a two-year budget deal that raises funding levels and suspends the debt limit until 2017. This accomplishment eases the way for the spending package that needs to passed by December 11 to keep the federal government funded. And it could be good news for the EB-5 Regional Center program, if RC program reauthorization could be folded into the appropriations bill as has happened in the past. But we hear that powerful voices in Congress want standalone legislation with changes and reform, not just another reauthorization, and we aren’t hearing of progress toward making that happen. A couple bills came out in October, but we haven’t seen substantial new contenders – no work product from the negotiations by Grassley, Leahy, Goodlatte, and Issa; no new version of the leading Senate bill S. 1501; and nothing that looks like it has a serious chance of satisfying enough interests to pass. (EB5 Coalition has a bill comparison chart summarizing current offerings.) I am happy to report that IIUSA has just come out with an EB-5 legislative compromise proposal based on consultation with a broad base of stakeholders plus assessment of what could fly on Capitol Hill. For details, see the announcement: IIUSA Delivers Compromise EB-5 Legislative Proposal to Congress. We hope to inspire our representatives to engage in some compromising of their own, and avoid an impasse that would let the Regional Center program expire on December 11.

Articles (China Retrogression, SEC Actions)

New and Terminated Regional Centers
Additions to the USCIS Regional Center List, 10/19/2015 to 11/02/2015

  • City Connections Regional Center LLC (California must be USCIS error, presumably should be Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania): www.ccrceb5.com
  • Deictic Investment Group LLC (California)
  • MCFI Southern California / Arizona (Arizona, California): www.mcfiusa.com
  • South Atlantic Coast Regional Center LLC (Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina)

Renamed:

  • California Golden Pacific Regional Center, LLC (former name U.S. Golden Pacific Regional Center, LLC) (California)

Additions to the list of Terminated Regional Centers

  • USA Lifestyles Regional Center (Maine) terminated 10/13/2015
  • Spring Hill Homes LP Regional Center (Texas) terminated 10/22/2015

Filed under EB-5 Law & Policy, EB-5 Resources, New RC

I-924A Reminder, Processing Times, New RCs

October 19, 2015 Leave a comment

I-924A Reminders
As Regional Centers prepare Form I-924A annual report filings (due December 29th), here are a few points to keep in mind:

  • Use the I-924A Form and Instructions and the filing address posted on the USCIS website. For filing tips, refer to the Questions and Answers Form I-924A from 2011 and the September 17, 2015 engagement on Form I-924A (recording here).
  • Your purpose in filing Form I-924A is to show continued eligibility to participate in the Regional Center Program, specifically by demonstrating that the Regional Center is continuing to promote economic growth, improved regional productivity, job creation, or increased domestic capital investment in the approved geographic area. (As per Section 610(a) of the Appropriations Act and 8 CFR 204.6(m)(6))
  • Each Form I-924A will be reviewed by a new compliance group within IPO. As part of its review, this group will:
    • Review the info provided in the I-924A for timeliness, accuracy, and completeness
    • Consider both your Form I-924A responses and any supplemental narrative and exhibits that you choose to provide to determine whether your Regional Center did something to promote economic growth in FY2014
    • Check the numbers you report in the I-924A against other info USCIS has on file for your RC, and red flag any inconsistencies
    • Perform an Internet search and a search through internal databases looking for derogatory information related to your Regional Center and its projects and principals
    • Investigate your Regional Center’s online presence (RC’s website, online content from agents and promoters) and look for any impropriety (USCIS has said they particularly look for use of the DHS seal or USCIS signature; any claims about guaranteed returns, guaranteed approvals, or expedited treatment of petitions; and any language (including entity names) that implies a special relationship with USCIS, DHS, or the US government. Keep in mind USCIS’s Cautions on Names of Regional Centers and Enterprises, and Unauthorized Use of DHS Seal)

    (Sources: 8/13/2015 stakeholder meeting, 9/17/2015 engagement, and FOIA material)
    Prepare the I-924A with this review in mind. Add narrative explanation to your I-924A as needed to avoid any questions about apparent inconsistencies, derogatory information, or inactivity. And review and fix any problems with your web presence now.

IPO Processing Times
For what it’s worth, here’s another chart tracking average processing times reported for IPO. Just keep in mind that anecdotal evidence suggests a huge standard deviation around these averages.
IPtimes831
I think the real processing story is in volume of receipts and approvals, but we’ll have to wait a few months before USCIS publishes those numbers for the fourth quarter.

New Regional Centers
The USCIS Regional Center list has now exceeded a thousand entries, expanded in part by the large number of multi-state Regional Centers approved since late 2013. In allowing RCs to claim huge geographic areas, IPO has liberally interpreted Congressional intent that “a Regional Center shall have jurisdiction over a limited geographic area, which shall be consistent with the purpose of concentrating pooled investment in defined economic zones” (Section 610(a) of the Departments of Justice and Related Agencies Appropriations Act 1993).

Additions to the USCIS Regional Center List, 10/08/2015 to 10/19/2015

  • AGC California Regional Center, LLC (California)
  • Global America Regional Center (California)
  • MCFI – Northern California, LLC (California): www.mcfiusa.com
  • Invest CNMI, LLC (Northern Marianas Islands): investcnmillc.bridgecapitaltestsites.com
  • AGC New York Regional Center, LLC (Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania)
  • American EB-5 Properties Regional Center, LLC (Northern Connecticut, New Jersey, New York): apeb5.com
  • Ironstate Regional Center, LLC (Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania)
  • American National Immigration and Education Center LLC (District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia) http://amniec.com/
  • Central Western Regional Center LLC (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin) USCIS Designation Letter
  • Ashcroft/Sullivan/Baybridge Mid-Atlantic Economic Development Center (Maryland): aseb5.com
  • CMB North Dakota Regional Center (North Dakota): www.cmbeb5visa.com
  • Landy Resources Management, LLC (North Dakota)
  • EB 5 Capital-Texas Regional Center (Texas): www.eb5capital.com
  • Lone Star EB-5 Regional Center (Texas)

Filed under EB-5 Resources, New RC

Direct v RC Structure (AAO decision), New RCs

October 15, 2015 Leave a comment

New AAO Decision (Direct EB-5 Investment Structure, Evidence Standard, Multiple Investors)
I keep seeing evidence of confusion about how direct EB-5 and Regional Center EB-5 differ, and cases that try to use a Regional Center structure for direct investment. Test question: Which structures in Figure 1 are options for a direct EB-5 investment in a hospice business: A and B, or B only? (Assume that the hospice is owned by the entity in whose box it appears.)
Figure1
The correct answer is: B only, because job creation in A is indirect with respect to the new commercial enterprise. Counting indirect jobs requires Regional Center sponsorship; in direct EB-5, you can only count employees who provide labor for and receive wages directly from the new commercial enterprise. The NCE and the hospice could potentially have different tax ID numbers, but they must be a single enterprise (a single entity, or one entity wholly owns the other) in order for the NCE to count the hospice jobs as direct jobs. If the NCE makes a loan to or investment in another enterprise, the jobs resulting from that investment don’t count because they’re not the NCE’s direct jobs. Figure 1 is similar to the fact pattern from an actual direct EB-5 case that USCIS denied in 2011 and whose appeal the Administrative Appeals Office just dismissed (see decision OCT022015_01B7203 Matter of H-G-). The petitioner in this case first filed I-526 with a Structure A fact pattern, was denied, then reported on appeal that “the entity previously in the middle … has been dissolved to make this a direct investment and job creator” (Structure B). But the fix came too late; a petitioner must demonstrate eligibility at the time of filing and may not make material changes in an effort to make a deficient petition conform to regulatory requirements.

Another timely reminder in the Oct. 2nd AAO decision concerns evidence quality. AAO quotes 8 C.F.R. § 103.2(b)(2) to support the point that a petitioner must submit primary evidence unless it’s demonstrated to be non-existent or unavailable. (In this case, the petitioner provided letters from city officials saying that licenses had likely been issued, but should have provided copies of the licenses themselves or demonstrated the unavailability of such primary evidence.)

I’m also interested in the decision’s statement on the issue of multiple investors. The AAO writes that since the I-526 petition revealed that at least six EB-5 investors would be involved in this enterprise, the business plan should have shown the total investment and job creation for all six investors, and the petition should have included an agreement among the investors for job allocation.

New and Removed Regional Centers
Additions to the USCIS Regional Center List, 09/21/2015 to 10/08/2015

  • MW International LLC (California)
  • Paramount Regional Center, LLC (California)
  • EB5 Affiliate Network New York/Tri-State Regional Center (Connecticut, New Jersey, New York): eb5affiliatenetwork.com
  • Liberty EB5 Regional Center (Pennsylvania)

Additions to the USCIS list of Terminated Regional Centers

  • Next Bay Properties, LLC (California), terminated 10/1/2015

Filed under EB-5 Law & Policy, New RC

Short-term RC extension by CR?, New RCs

September 22, 2015 2 Comments

Regional Center Program Authorization Update
Congress now has just seven working days before the Regional Center program sunsets, and substantive reform/re-authorization bills are not even out of committee. We’re now pinning our hopes on temporary extension as part of a continuing resolution (CR). Today the Senate took a step in this direction, releasing its proposal for a CR that would extend current funding levels for the federal government through December 11, 2015 and reauthorize the EB-5 Regional Center program for the same period. See the IIUSA news release for further detail. We hope that the House follows the Senate’s lead, and that the Regional Center program won’t be allowed to lapse on September 30th.

New Regional Centers
Even as the Regional Center program’s future hangs in the balance, new Regional Centers continue to be approved.
Additions to the USCIS Regional Center List, 09/08/2015 to 09/21/2015

  • Baypointe EB5 Regional Center, LLC (Alabama): baypointeeb5.com
  • Amaxi Regional Center, LLC (California): www.metroteahouse.com
  • Summit Regional Center (California)
  • FP Advisors LLC (Colorado)
  • EB5 Florida Real Estate Regional Center, LLC (Florida): www.eb5floridarealestateregionalcenter.com
  • Liberty Kansas Regional Center (Kansas and Missouri)
  • Queensfort Capital Massachusetts Regional Center, LLC (Massachusetts): queensforteb5.com
  • Mid America Investment Group, LLC (Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee)
  • Big Apple Regional Center (New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania)
  • NatureAll Co., Inc. EB-5 Regional Center (New Jersey): natureallusa.com

FYI: The FOIA reading room on the USCIS website, which rarely gets updated, has a new file called FY2014 Regional Center Termination Notices. Don’t get excited, however, unless you’re just interested in the form of termination notices, since the reason for termination is neatly and completely redacted from each letter.

Filed under EB-5 Law & Policy, New RC

9/17 EB-5 Interactive (I-924A), New RCs

September 17, 2015 Leave a comment

9/17 EB-5 Interactive (I-924A)
Today USCIS held the EB-5 Interactive Series: Annual Reporting Requirements for Continued Eligibility within the Regional Center Program, (Form I-924A). I have uploaded my recording here, and will update this post with helpful commentary posted others. The teleconference focused strictly on the Form I-924A, and provided filing tips and suggestions for avoiding a Notice of Intent to Terminate. I gathered two main points: (1) take the Form I-924A seriously, because your Regional Center’s continued eligibility really does depend on what you report in this form; (2) when in doubt, explain. The form has confusing and ambiguous fields, and a Regional Center’s activity in a given year may extend beyond the investment and job creation boxes, so USCIS welcomes supplementary narrative. Don’t only fill out the form, but explain the numbers you’re reporting and provide additional content as needed to demonstrate that your center has done something to promote economic growth in the past fiscal year.

New Regional Centers
Additions to the USCIS Regional Center List, 09/03/2015 to 09/08/2015

  • Civitas Alabama Regional Center (Alabama) www.civitascapital.com
  • ARC Atlantic Regional Center, LLC (California) arcrc.org
  • CA EB5 Express (California)
  • Rota EB5 Regional Center (Marianas)
  • East West Regional Center, LLC (Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania)
  • Miami Film Regional Center (Florida) www.linkedin.com/in/jeffersonsimmons1
  • EB5 Affiliate Network State of Illinois Regional Center, LLC (Illinois) eb5affiliatenetwork.com
  • LaSalle Street Regional Center (Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin)
  • Civitas Great Plains Regional Center (Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma) www.civitascapital.com
  • Civitas Louisiana Regional Center (Louisiana) www.civitascapital.com
  • Boston Regional Center (Massachusetts)
  • Civitas Masachussetts Regional Center (Massachusetts) www.civitascapital.com
  • Advantage America Nevada Regional Center LLC (Nevada)
  • North Atlanatic Regional Center, LLC (New Jersey, New York, Pennesylvania)
  • G&CW Regional Center, LLC (New York)
  • EB5 Affiliate Network States of Washington and Oregon Regional Center, LLC (Oregon, Washington) eb5affiliatenetwork.com
  • Royal White Cement EB-5 Regional Center LLC (Texas)
  • Texas Mining & Resource Center, LLC (Texas)

Filed under New RC, Updates from USCIS

8/13 Engagement Remarks, Pending Petitions, New RCs

September 3, 2015 Leave a comment

8/13/2015 Engagement Notes
USCIS has posted prepared remarks from the August 13, 2015 EB-5 Stakeholder Engagement.

  • IPO Chief Nicholas Colucci discusses EB-5 program statistics, the new EB-5 InTouch series of engagements and a recent China trip, EB-5 protocols, the new IPO compliance team, and GAO report recommendations.
  • IPO Deputy Chief Harrison remarks on processing workflow and times (and exceptions to the FIFO principle), and announces an EB-5 Interactive Engagement on September 17, 2015 that will discuss I-924A filings.

FY2015 Q3 EB-5 Petition Processing Statistics
The Q3 petition processing statistics that I reported last week have now been officially posted on the USCIS website. Here is a bonus chart just showing the number of pending petitions. The I-526 trend finally shows some good news last quarter, while the backlog of I-829 petitions continues to grow.
2015Q3pending

New RCs
Additions to the USCIS Regional Center List, 08/03/2015 to 09/03/2015

  • WDS Media Regional Center (California) wdshollywood.com.cn/regional-center
  • Lexin New York Regional Center (Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania) lexineb5.com
  • EB-5 Bonds New York, LLC (Connecticut, New York)
  • Good Life EB5 Georgia Regional Center, LLC (Georgia) www.goodlifeeb5.com
  • USCFID Georgia LLC (Georgia)
  • American Dream Fund Hawaii Regional Center, LLC (Hawaii) www.adreamfund.com
  • USA ODI Regional Center, LLC (Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia)
  • Sunpin Massachusetts Regional Center, LLC (Massachusetts)
  • American Gateway Investments, LLC (New Jersey)
  • Howard Hughes New York Regional Center, LLC (New York)
  • Saipan Regional Investment Center, LLC (Marianas)
  • Oklahoma State Regional Center, LLC (Oklahoma) www.oklahomastaterc.com
  • IZON, LLC (South Carolina)
  • Dallas Regional Center (Texas)
  • Oklahoma State Regional Center, LLC (Texas) www.credgroup.com/RC.html

Filed under New RC, Updates from USCIS

USCIS EB-5 Communication Protocols

August 27, 2015 3 Comments

USCIS has added a new page called EB-5 Resources to the EB-5 section of its site. So far, the page posts training materials on “EB-5 Protocols” that deal with procedures for and strict limitations on stakeholder communication and senior intervention in adjudications. These protocols are necessary to preserve the appearance of integrity and fairness in adjudications (welcome) and to protect the dignity and power of midlevel civil servants, regardless of (in)competence (less welcome). Sir Humphrey Appleby would approve.

Filed under Updates from USCIS

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