EB-5 Events Update

May 2, 2011 Leave a comment

May 10
IIUSA EB-5 Conference in Washington DC. All-day conference featuring most of the big names in EB-5. Tickets are $375/$500. This is a must attend event, and I’ll be there among others. Registration deadline 5/9.

May 19 & June 9
EB-5 for Experts. Teleconferences on “Due Diligence & Care” and “Valuation & Risk” sponsored by ILW.com. Registration deadline 5/17. $199/session

June 30 &  September 15
USCIS EB-5 Stakeholder’s Meetings . The 6/30 meeting with USCIS is a teleconference (recently rescheduled from 6/16). The 9/15 meeting will be in person in Washington DC. Anyone may participate with no charge. RSVP to USCIS.

July 6 & August 16
U.S. Investment Visas and Green Cards for Foreign Nationals. Webinar series by IIUSA and the Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers covering “EB-5 regional center applications and project preapproval petition” and “How to successfully navigate the back end of the EB-5 process for both individual investors and regional centers.” $89/session.

Filed under EB-5 Events

New Regional Center (ND, MN)

April 21, 2011 Leave a comment

The USCIS list of approved Regional Centers has been updated as of 4/21 with one interesting new center, a first for both North Dakota and Minnesota. The website link associates it with the University of North Dakota Center for Innovation, and I assume that EB-5 investment will soon be added to the “Entrepreneur Financing” options offered by the center. If the applicants had called me prior to filing their proposal I might have responded with cold water — alerting them that a geographic range covering all of one state and part of another is difficult for an economic analysis based on multipliers, and cautioning them about including such a wide range of broadly defined industries, each of which will have to be illustrated by a sample project and narrowed enough to enable job counts. Fortunately they didn’t call me, and what do you know this center has been approved. Congrats UND!

UND Center for Innovation Foundation Regional Center (www.innovators.net)
Geographic Scope: The entire State of North Dakota and 20 counties in Northwestern Minnesota, which includes Kittson, Roseau, Marshall, Pennington, Beltrami, Red Lake, Polk, Norman, Clay, Otter Tail, Douglas, Pope, Traverse, Stevens, Wilkin, Becker, Mahnomen, Clearwater, Grant and Lake of the Woods.
Industries: Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting; Manufacturing; Construction Machinery Manufacturing; Mining Machinery Manufacturing; Aerospace Product & Parts Manufacturing; Information; Research and Development in Biotechnology; Electric Power Transmission, Control and Distribution; Real Estate

Filed under New RC

Processing Times and Meeting Update

April 18, 2011 2 Comments

According to the latest report of Processing Time Information for the California Service Center (4/18),  I-526 petition processing is back on track at 5 months.

In other good news, the IIUSA EB-5 conference in Washington D.C. on May 10 has just dramatically reduced the registration fee plus added a special session in which copies of the newly released EB-5 Training Materials from USCIS will be distributed to all attendees and discussed by an expert panel including representatives from USCIS. This is looking like a must-attend event, but hurry if you want to take advantage of the the hotel group rate.

Also, note another opportunity to hear from man-of-the-hour H. Ronald Klasko, who made the FOIA request that brought us the EB-5 training materials and is speaking at the IIUSA EB-5 Conference in Washington DC on May 10, the EB-5 Webinar Series on July 6, and now the newly-announced EB-5 for Experts Phone Session on securities law on April 28.

Filed under EB-5 Events, EB-5 in the News

Understanding “material change”

April 15, 2011 7 Comments

***2015 UPDATE***
This blog post is now old news. See instead my post What is material change?

—- OLD POST —-

The recently released USCIS EB-5 training materials include a couple pages (207-208 of pdf #1) addressing the question of what constitutes material change. The training material (which appears to predate the 2009 Neufeld memo and concept of “material change” at the I-829 stage) focuses on changes in the RFE context. The training emphasizes that the I-526 petition should present the business plan and investment terms clearly and completely, and that RFE responses are not supposed to contradict the I-526 info in any “material” way.

A petitioner must establish eligibility at the time of filing. The petition may not be approved at a future date after the petitioner becomes eligible under a new set of facts. See Matter of Katigbak, 14 I&N Dec. 45,49 (Comm. 1971). Therefore, a petitioner may not make a material change to a petition that has already been filed in an effort to make an apparently deficient petition conform to Service requirements.
– Note that the facts in place at the time of filing are important. In other words, the financial arrangements and other related factors which make a petition approvable need to be in effect when the petition is filed. It is common for the alien to be alerted to deficiencies in the petition through an RFE and to attempt to correct them. If such changes are material, the petition may need to be denied. The judgment of whether the change is material is up to the adjudicating officer. However, a material change is usually one which reflects a substantial alteration in circumstances on which the Service is relying in making its decision.
– EXAMPLES:
An alien files a Form I-526 on June 1,2008, based on a$400,000 investment. In response to an RFE, the alien provides proof of the remaining required amount being invested on July 15, 2008. Is this a material change? – Yes, this is a material change.
-An alien files a Form 1-526 with an arrangement for half of the capital to be paid back to him as a guaranteed return. In response to an RFE, he declares the arrangement null and void. Is this a material change? – Yes, this is a material change.
– An alien files a Form 1-526 and invests $1,000,000 in a business that is planning to operate a Chinese restaurant. In the RFE, it is revealed that the business has decided to operate a Peruvian restaurant instead. Is this a material change? – No, this is not a material change.

Here are a few additional examples that I culled from the AAO decisions on cases last year involving Capital Area Regional Center Job Fund (“CARc”) and Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (“PIDC”) and changes between the I-526 and I-829 filings. In each case, the change was judged to be “material.”

Change to project specifications and location
-PIDC changed from investing in the expansion of a home improvement seller to investing in the development of a new restaurant
Change in use of EB-5 funds
-CARc changed from letter of credit to be released after completion of construction to cash released to the project’s capital account
– CARc changed from using funds for development costs only to development costs plus purchase of property
– PIDC stated funds would be used for expansion costs such as equipment, inventory buildup, working capital and in fact used funds to refinance an existing mortgage

The theorists and policy-makers among you will want to review an in-depth article related to material change posted at ilw.com by Joseph Whalen, a former adjudicator. See: The Concepts of “Reasonable Reliance” vs. “Deference to Prior Decisions” in EB-5.

Filed under EB-5 Law & Policy

Do-nothing Congress?

April 13, 2011 Leave a comment

I keep reassuring people that the EB-5 Regional Center program will surely be renewed before 9/30/2012, that Congress couldn’t possibly delay and prevaricate and let a good jobs-creating economy-supporting program expire … or… wait….   If you are also reading the newspaper and getting nervous, IIUSA President K. David Andersson has some suggestions about how to be proactive about pressing our legislators to keep EB-5 on track.

Filed under EB-5 in the News

EB-5 Webinar Series

April 6, 2011 3 Comments

Registration is now open for a series of EB-5 web seminars offering high-profile presenters and useful topics at a surprisingly reasonable cost.

U.S. Investment Visas and Green Cards for Foreign Nationals: A Three-Part Webinar Series
Presented by the Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers and co-sponsored by Invest In the USA (IIUSA), the association of EB-5 Regional Centers.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: Individual investors; potential and actual EB-5 regional centers; attorneys and advisors; real estate developers; companies seeking capital for development projects

SESSION 1: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13 at 12:00 pm ET
Visa options for individual investors: E and L nonimmigrant visas; EB-5 green cards through direct investments or regional centers
Presenters: Bernard Wolfsdorf, Kehrela Hodkinson, Mark Ivener, Stephen Yale-Loehr

SESSION 2: WEDNESDAY, JULY 6 at 3:00 pm ET
EB-5 regional center applications and project preapproval petition
Presenters: Laura Danielson, Bryan Funai, H. Ronald Klasko, Steve Trow

SESSION 3: TUESDAY, AUGUST 16 at 3:00 pm ET
How to successfully navigate the back end of the EB-5 process for both individual investors and regional centers
Presenters: Steven Clark, H. Ronald Klasko, Robert Loughran, Stephen Yale-Loehr

COST AND REGISTRATION: $89 for an individual session, $249 for all three sessions. To register visit https://securec9.ezhostingserver.com/abil-com/abil_webinar_signup.cfm

Other upcoming events to keep in mind:

Filed under EB-5 Events

More EB-5 AAO Decisions

April 4, 2011 5 Comments

The USCIS website has posted several more 2010 Administrative Appeals Office decisions in the EB-5 category.

Feb182010_11B7203 to Feb182010_13B7203 and Feb182010_15B7203 are additional denials related to the Capital Area Regional Center Watergate Hotel project, which I described in an earlier blog post. These cases offer interesting insight into the official understanding of “material change,” TEA designation, acceptable investment terms for regional centers, and acceptable use of EB-5 capital.

Feb182010_14B7203 and Jul082010_01B7203 are new decisions on I-829 petitions for stand-alone EB-5 investments.  The first case involves investment in an existing restaurant, and treats the issue of what constitutes a “new” commercial enterprise and the necessity of a wholly-owned subsidiary relationship between the “new commercial enterprise” and the “job-creating entity.” The July decision involves investment in an existing hotel, and discusses source of funds documentation required when the EB-5 funds come from a gift. Both decisions trace failure to demonstrate job creation to faults in the I-526 business plan — a good reminder to invest thought and experience in getting the business plan done well.

Don’t bother reading the following, which are mis-categorized or very brief: Mar292010_02D7101 (though this one is kind of entertaining: a petitioner explaining that he hasn’t met his Chinese finance due to his fear of high bridges and flying), Aug032010_01D7101 to Aug032010_03D7101, Mar082010_01B7203, May212010_01B7203 (cases withdrawn), Aug042010_01D7101,  Aug052010_01D7101, Aug052010_02D7101 (misfiled L-1).

I have, by the way, compiled a log of EB-5-related AAO decisions from 2009 and 2010, tabulating the issues involved in each case. And if you’re very nice to me, I might share.

Filed under EB-5 Law & Policy

Making the EB-5 Regional Center program permanent?

March 30, 2011 1 Comment

The EB-5 Regional Center program is currently only authorized through September 30, 2012, and Congress needs to renew it or there will be bad news for regional centers and for all investors whose petitions are still in the pipeline. With the economy as it is I can’t imagine Congress allowing a jobs program like this to expire, but still the last two renewals didn’t come until literally the last minute and caused a lot of needless stress to businesses and investors.

Fortunately IIUSA and others are pressing hard, not only for renewal well in advance of the sunset date but for the Regional Center program to be made permanent. As the IIUSA blog reported yesterday:

The Hon. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee, introduced the Creating American Jobs with Foreign Capital Act (S. 642) – which would permanently authorize the EB-5 Regional Center Program – into the Congressional Record.

The bill’s proposal is commendably lean and to-the-point:

Section 610 of the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1993 (8 U.S.C. 1153 note) is amended–
(1) by striking “pilot” each place such term appears; and
(2) in subsection (b), by striking “until September 30, 2012”.

Note that as part of its advocacy efforts, IIUSA is hosting a day-long EB-5 Regional Center Conference in Washington DC on 5/10/2011. This conference will be a unique opportunity to network with the prominent movers in the EB-5 community and to advocate for the extension of the Regional Center program. Although I personally fear networking and lobbying, I’m considering attending the conference for two sessions planned on topics that are extremely hot for EB-5 at the moment: SEC-compliance and job creation methodologies. The excellent line-up of guest panelists includes:

  • Representative from SEC Office of Small Business Policy
  • Howard L. Kramer, Partner, Schiff Harden, LLP (former SEC Senior Associate Director of Division of Market Regulation)
  • Zoe Ambargis, U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis (invited)
  • Kim Atteberry, USCIS, Investment & Economic Analysis Division (invited)
  • John Barrett, Principal, IHS Global Insight, Inc.
  • Hart Hodges, Director, Western Washington Universiry, College of Business and Economics (former President of Association of University Busines and Economic Research)

Filed under EB-5 Events, EB-5 in the News, EB-5 Law & Policy

FY 2011 Q1 EB-5 Statistics

March 18, 2011 Leave a comment

Here are interesting EB-5 statistics presented at the 3/17/2011 EB-5 Stakeholder’s Meeting at the USCIS California Service Center.

Current Regional Center Stats as of 3/17/2011

# of Active Regional Centers 125
# of Pending Initial RC Proposals 156
# of Pending RC Amendments 34

Stats  on Initial Regional Center Proposal Filings

FY 2010
(Oct 2009 – Sept 2010)

FY 2011 Q1
(Oct – Dec 2010)
# of Initial RC Proposal Filings

110

 116
# of Amended RC Proposal Filings 42 24
% of Initial RC Proposals Denied 45% 24%
% of RC Amendments Denied 29% 22%

Statistics I-526 and I-829 Petitions

(Recall that petitions are not necessarily adjudicated in the year in which they are received!)

# of I-526 Received # of I-526 Approvals % of I-526 Approved
FY11 Q1 701 190 77%
FY10 1955 1369 89%
FY09 1028 1262 86%
FY08 1257 640 84%
FY07 776 473 76%
FY06 486 336 73%
FY05 332 179 53%
# of I-829 Received # of I-829 Approvals % of I-829 Approved
FY11 Q1 531 39 75%
FY10 768 274 83%
FY09 437 347 86%
FY08 390 159 70%
FY07 194 111 69%
FY06 89 106 64%
FY05 37 184 62%

USCIS noted that it is still working on a system to distinguish RC from stand-alone filings and that an estimated 90-95%  of I-526 petitions are currently associated with Regional Centers.

EB-5 Visa Statistics

Total EB-5 Visas Issued
FY11 Q1 1,421
FY10 1,885
FY09 4,218
FY08 1,360
FY07 806
FY06 744

The presentation notes: “USCIS interprets the set aside of visas to ensure that a minimum of 3,000 visas are available for regional center based applicants. We do not see the set aside as limiting the number of visas that can be granted to regional center based applicants, to the extent that such applicants can be allocated up to 10,000 visas, along with the non-regional center based applicants.”

Filed under EB-5 Statistics

EB-5 Stakeholder Meeting at CSC

March 17, 2011 Leave a comment

I just returned from “the ziggurat” in Laguna Nigel, where I attended the EB-5 stakeholders’ meeting  at the USCIS California Service Center. It was a relatively subdued crowd this year — fewer attendees than last year and dampened by the struggle to hear through a faulty sound system. The information of consequence can be largely found in the 3/17 Meeting Powerpoint Presentation available at the USCIS website, and the panel answers to audience questions were entirely predictable. The few minor bombs will be retracted by the next meeting, I assume, so I’m not going to bother to report them. I may comment on a few points in subsequent posts, but here’s the simple bottom line: “follow instructions!” That’s all that USCIS can do; the agency isn’t Congress and can’t make policy but can only defer to instructions. And that’s what we have to do, in preparing petitions: just spread out the same set of instructions (the law, the precedent decisions, the forms, the memos) and follow them completely, elegantly, and with extreme explicitness.

Here are the topics covered in the PowerPoint Presentation:

Regional Center Statistics

  • RC Proposal Filing Receipts for FY10 and FY11 Q1
  • RC Final Case Actions FY10 and FY11 Q1
  • EB-5 Individual Petition Filing Receipts FY05-FY10 & FY11 Q1
  • Form I-526 Petition Final Actions and Final Action Percentages for FY05-FY10 & FY11 Q1
  • Form I-829 Petition Final Actions and Final Action Percentages for FY05-FY10 & FY11 Q1
  • EB-5 Case Processing Times
  • EB-5 Visa Usage Stats

Revisions to USCIS.gov

Regional Center Economic Analysis

  • Defining Direct Jobs
  • Projected vs. Actual Jobs
  • Using a State-wide Analysis
  • Selecting/switching Impact Models

Targeted Employment Area (TEA) questions
[This section reminds us that (1) I-526, not I-924, is where TEA status needs to be demonstrated, and (2) the regulations don’t require state certification that a TEA is a TEA — alternatively the petitioner may independently pull and present stats demonstrating high unemployment .]

Redemption Agreements
[Reminder to comply with Matter of Izumi.]

Complex Capital Investment Vehicles
[Answer: A regional center may opt to structure EB-5 capital investment projects that involve multiple investment vehicles. However, USCIS has consistently maintained that a regional center must transparently show at the Form I-526 stage the specific job creating entities/projects in which the investor’s capital will be invested, supported by comprehensive business plans and an economic analysis that provides a reasonable methodology for estimating the job creation that will occur as a result of these complex investments. Some recently-reviewed RC applications have put forth capital investment structures that seem to presume that the EB-5 immigration process allows for a Regional Center to recruit EB-5 investors, who then file Form I-526 petitions in order to invest in an enterprise without identifying the specific capital investment projects that will receive the immigrant investor’s capital.]

Filed under EB-5 Events, EB-5 Resources

CSC processing times 3/14

March 15, 2011 3 Comments

USCIS has posted CSC processing times  as of 3/14. According to this report, the California Service Center is currently processing 1-526 petitions filed 8/31/2010 and I-485 petitions filed 7/16/2010. The I-829 petition still has an estimated processing time of six months.

I recently spoke with two RC applicants who heard back from USCIS in February. One got approval for a new RC proposal filed in October 2010; another got an RFE on a proposal filed in July 2010. USCIS says that it processes petitions in the order they are received, but apparently the length of the processing time can vary widely. Another reason to make your proposal just as clear and tight as possible so that it’s easy for USCIS to review.

 

Filed under New RC, Updates from USCIS

New EB-5 info posted at USCIS.gov

March 14, 2011 Leave a comment

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.

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

Ready, set… delay!

February 24, 2011 2 Comments

The good news: the EB-5 community is on a roll. I spent the weekend in Las Vegas taking part in two excellent EB-5 seminars (one organized by Wright Johnson and McAdam & McCarthy, the other by Brian Su of Artisan Business Group). Listening to the presentations by legal, financial, economic, and marketing professionals, I was impressed by how far we’ve come over the past couple years in getting this complicated EB-5 process figured out. The packed-out audiences testified to how excited businesses still are about the EB-5 opportunity.

The bad news: NOTHING IS HAPPENING OVER AT USCIS! Only two regional centers approved so far this year! Come on California Service Center! It’s almost March! We know you have over 100 applications waiting on your desks! What happened to all those new adjudicators you hired last year? They’re not hustling with I-526 petitions for investors either. The latest CSC processing time report (as of 2/14) has given up claiming a five month processing for the I-526 and admits that last week they were starting to process petitions filed on 7/13/2010. I understand that last year was challenging, with the new filing fees bringing a flood of RC applications, and a flock of new Regional Centers bringing in a larger volume of investor petitions. But the immigration service is going to have to step up its game a little if this program is going to survive. Job growth is waiting!

By the way, the talk on EB-5 business plans that I presented in Las Vegas is available to anyone interested in current strategies for presenting your business in the context of Regional Center applications and investor petitions. Please email me if you’d like a copy.

Filed under EB-5 Events, EB-5 in the News

Reporting problems and asking for help

February 24, 2011 Leave a comment

IIUSA, the trade association for EB-5, hosts a regular conference call for members, and I was particularly impressed by this month’s guest caller from the CIS Ombudsman Office. Fred Troncone is a senior advisor at the office dealing specially with business matters, and he appeared well informed about the EB-5 program, energetic and proactive, and ready and willing to work closely with both stakeholders and USCIS to consider recommendations for improvement and address case-specific problems. Comments and complaints can be submitted directly to USCIS through the EB-5 inquiry page, but keep the CIS Ombudsman in mind as well. As an independent office within the Department of Homeland Security, the CIS Ombudsman exists (at least so long as it can keep funding) to help improve the immigration service. To quote from its website:

The Ombudsman is dedicated to identifying systemic problems in the immigration benefits process and preparing recommendations for submission to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for process changes. The Ombudsman believes that process change recommendations from individuals like you represent one of the best sources for identifying systemic problems in the immigration benefits process.

The Ombudsman also offers an option to those at their wits end in dealing with case-specific issues. To quote:

You should contact the CIS Ombudsman if you have an ongoing or immediate issue with USCIS, such as:

  • You are facing, or are about to face, an immediate adverse action or impact, an emergency or any other type of significant hardship caused by an action/inaction/delay in processing by USCIS, or a problem, which could not be resolved through the normal processes provided for by USCIS;
  • Your case experienced processing delays beyond anticipated processing times;
  • You will incur, or are about to incur, significant and unusual costs (including fees for professional representation that are not normally incurred);
  • Have not received a response or resolution within the anticipated time frames as published by USCIS.

Filed under EB-5 Resources

EB-5 Visa Usage by Country 2010

February 10, 2011 Leave a comment

The U.S. Department of State has published their final visa usage statistics for FY2010. A total of 1,885 EB-5 visas were issued, with the following countries making up the Top 10:

  1. People’s Republic of China (772 or 40.9%)
  2. Republic of South Korea (295 or 15.6%)
  3. Great Britain/Northern Ireland (135 or 7.1%)
  4. Taiwan (94 or 5.0%)
  5. India (62 or 3.3%)
  6. Iran (55 or 2.9%)
  7. Mexico (50 or 2.6%)
  8. Canada (45 or 2.4%)
  9. Russia (41 or 2.2%)
  10. South Africa (34 or 1.8%)

Thanks to Peter Joseph at the IIUSA blog for tabulating these stats from the State Department’s master list. Several points of comparison with visa usage statistics from FY2009:

  • The top four countries by visa usage are the same as in 2009.
  • Iran and South Africa have moved into the top ten, and Mexico has moved up in the list, while Japan and the Netherlands dropped out.
  • USCIS issued 55% more EB-5 visas (4,218) in FY 2009 than in FY2010. According to investigation by IIUSA, this 2009 spike occurred because USCIS expedited EB-5 visa processing in advance of the 2009 program sunset date.
  • Although EB-5 visa issuance was down in 2010, the number of I-526 petitions filed in 2010 increased by 90% compared to the previous year.

Filed under EB-5 Statistics

Upcoming EB-5 Events

January 7, 2011 2 Comments

Mark your calendars for these upcoming opportunities to network and gather resources in the EB-5 field.

February 19, 2011, Las Vegas, NV
EB-5 One-Day Seminar: Regional Center Development, Management and Project Creation
Hosted by McAdam & McCarthy Attorneys at Law
Registration Deadline for Early Bird Discount: Jan. 26, 2011
Back by popular demand after a successful run in Chicago last year, this seminar focuses on practical content for for EB-5 practitioners. Speakers include immigration, corporate, and securities lawyers, an economist, an escrow agent, and yours truly. Topics covered include:

  • What is the EB-5 Program?
  • What are the benefits and importance of an EB-5 Regional Center Designation?
  • Preparing your Regional Center Application
  • Preparing your business for EB-5 investment
  • The role of economic analyses in EB-5
  • What is a “Target Employment Area” and how does it affect EB-5?
  • Developing an EB-5 business plan
  • What the individual investor must submit in order to invest in your business (the I-526 Visa Petition)
  • Properly setting up capital transfer mechanisms, such escrow accounts.

Especially if you are considering or in the process of setting up a Regional Center, I would highly recommend this event as a source of valuable practical guidance and connections.

Feb. 20, 2011 Las Vegas, NV
EB-5 RC Promotion and Investors Procurement Seminar
Host: Brian Su, Artisan Business Group
Those attending the RC development and management seminar on the 19th may want to consider this seminar hosted in Las Vegas the following day, and focusing on EB-5 marketing in China. I unfortunately had to miss Brian Su’s previous seminar in Chicago but was able to take advantage of the written materials he provided, which proved quite useful. If you want practical guidance for navigating the market for Chinese investors, this is a good opportunity for you.

March 17, 2011, Laguna Nigel, CA
EB-5 Stakeholder Meeting at the California Service Center
The quarterly meetings hosted by USCIS for EB-5 stakeholders are always very informative, and this one has the added attraction of location at the California Service Center, bringing you face-to-face with the very people who adjudicate your petitions and the very Cold War bunker where your EB-5 fate is decided. Most key players in the EB-5 field will be present in the audience, and IIUSA will be hosting networking events around the meeting.

These are EB-5 events that I plan to attend; for other opportunities consult http://eb5info.com/eb5-events

If you are an immigration attorney, you may want to consider attending the 2011 AILA EB-5 CLE Conference, to be held, surprise surprise, in Las Vegas, on March 14. The presentation titles are identical to those for the AILA EB-5 CLE in Boston last year, but with the changing field some new info may be offered.

Filed under EB-5 Events, EB-5 Resources

Special Report on EB-5

December 22, 2010 Leave a comment

Reuters published today a lengthy and well-researched article on the EB-5 program titled Special report: Overselling the American dream overseas. As its title suggests, the report presents a largely negative view of the program.

Over two months this fall, Reuters reporters in the United States, China and Korea attended EB-5 sales presentations and interviewed dozens of people associated with the program — from officials at the U.S. agencies that monitor it to the immigrants who have used it, from the attorneys that steer immigrants into specific investments to the U.S. businesses that pay them to do so. The picture that emerged was troubling…

Criticisms largely focus on misrepresentations in overseas marketing and the rocky history of EB-5. The information will not be new to those in the EB-5 field, but may influence public opinion. The yahoo home page has already picked up the story.

Filed under EB-5 in the News

New Info from USCIS 12/16 EB-5 Stakeholder Meeting

December 16, 2010 Leave a comment

USCIS has posted a very informative PowerPoint Presentation for the 12/16 EB-5 Teleconference.  Here is an outline of the topics covered.

  • Regional Center Statistics
  • Regional Center Filing Receipts and Final Case Actions FY10
  • EB-5 Individual Petition Filing Receipts for FY05-FY10
  • Form I-526 Petition and Final Actions for FY05-FY10
  • Form I-829 Petition and Final Actions for FY05-FY10
  • EB-5 Visa Usage
  • FY10 EB-5 Visa Usage by Country
  • EB-5 Case Processing
  • EB-5 Data Reporting
  • Up-coming revisions to Form I-526 and I-829
  • EB-5 Staffing Increase at the CSC
  • Future Posting of 2010 EB-5 Training Materials and EB-5 FAQ
  • About Maintaining Jobs in a Troubled Business
  • Issues with Office of Foreign Assets Control and investors from Iran
  • Issue of Sustaining the Capital Investment (new guidance here!)
  • EB-5 Status Issues
  • TEA Issues

Filed under EB-5 Events, EB-5 Statistics, Updates from USCIS

New Regional Center (MD)

December 16, 2010 Leave a comment

The USCIS list of approved regional centers has been updated as of today 12/16 with one new center, the first for the State of Maryland. This brings the grand total of RCs approved in November and December to three, with well over a hundred new proposals pending.

Maryland Center for Foreign Investment, LLC
Geographic Scope: Counties of Baltimore City, Baltimore, Carroll, Hartford, Anne Arundel, Prince George’s and Howard in the State of Maryland
Industries: Commercial Real Estate Development; Arts, Entertainment and Recreation

Filed under New RC

USCIS EB-5 Stakeholder Meetings

December 15, 2010 Leave a comment

The USCIS Office of Public Engagement has posted an agenda for tomorrow’s teleconference as well as (finally) the executive summary of the October 14, 2010 meeting.

Filed under EB-5 Events

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