A “Regional Center” is:
An entity, organization or agency that has been approved as such by the Service;
- Focuses on a specific geographic area within the United States; and ,
- Seeks to promote economic growth through increased
export sales, improved regional productivity, creation of new jobs, and
increased domestic capital investment
To file an approvable EB5 application the “Alien investors” must:
- Demonstrate that a “qualified investment” of $1,000,000 is
being made in a new commercial enterprise or $500,000 is being invested
in an enterprise that is located within a Target Employment Area or an
approved Regional Center;
- Show, using reasonable methodologies, that 10 or more
jobs are actually created directly by the new commercial enterprise. If
applying through a Regional Center, the 10 jobs may be indirectly
created through revenues generated from increased exports, improved
regional productivity, job creation, or increased domestic capital
investment resulting from the pilot program. If the investor is
qualifying through a Regional Center then Center generally provides this
information but in doing your due diligence, this is one issue to
investigate.
- That the funds used to invest were obtained legally.
This is the most burdensome aspect of the application and requires a
forensic analysis of the funds used for the investment.
USCIS determines whether the investor qualifies for the EB-5
visa by adjudicating an application, Form I-526. USCIS’ adjudication
includes a detailed review of the sources of the investor’s funds,
family history, and other representations of the head of household and
his immediate family member under the age of 21.
Once approved for EB-5 status through an approved I-526
application, the investor will apply for permanent residence and will
receive conditional residence for a period of 2 years. Within 90-day of
the expiration of conditional residence, the investor must file a Form
I-829 application to remove the condition, by proving that the requisite
amount of personal capital actually was invested, that at least ten
full-time jobs were created by that investment, and that the investor
“substantially met” the capital investment requirements and sustained
the investment during the conditional two-year period. The investment,
whether private or through a Regional Center, must still be operating
with the exact same purpose as when the original I-526 application was
filed. Failure to timely file that I-829 application to remove the
condition will result in automatic termination of status. So will an
eventual denial of the I-829, at which stage many investors are deemed
not to have “substantially met” the capital investment requirements, but
the Service has been known to leave these applications pending for
years.
