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EB-5 Visa Attorney Services

EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (“RIA”) Compliant

Traditional EB-5 Services

I-9565
I-956F5
I-829 Project Documentation5
I-526E5

RIA jump-started EB-5 and also brought with it a new integrity regime. We were in the drafting room and understand RIA’s demands of EB-5 regional centers. We put that understanding into your regional center’s DNA.

Regional Centers must now file I-956Fs, or “exemplar” applications, before EB-5 investors can file their I-525E petitions. RIA imposes specific requirements, including new indirect job creation formulae and attestations. Put our decade of project structuring experience including filing the first exemplar applications in 2011 into your new I-956F.

Whether there is completed job creation or a more complex scenario, the project’s Form I-829 documentation must put the best foot forward for this all-important phase of EB-5 immigration. Confidently prepare the I-829 project documentation with counsel who has helped clear over $1.27 billion in EB-5 capital through the I-829 process.

What is the role of the regional center under RIA? What are the new source of funds requirements? How long with the process take? Will my older children be protected from aging out? We are committed to communicating – the new requirements and the evolving post-RIA EB-5 landscape – to our EB-5 investor clients. Stay informed with us.

traditional eb 5 services
complex eb 5 services

Complex EB-5 Services

Complex RFE/NOIDS4
Restructuring & Change Management4
Redeployment4
EB-5 Litigation Support4

We’re seeing more than twice the denial rates in EB-5 than we saw in the past two years. Each RFE and NOID merits scrutiny to understand the Agency’s concerns and respond appropriately. Bring EB-5 law to bear on this important opportunity to clarify the record and move forward.

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Managing inevitable changes during extended EB-5 project lifespans will set the durable projects apart. Attorney Carolyn Lee’s corporate transactional experience and years of material change scholarship and advocacy set her apart. Take control over business adaptations to protect your project and investors.

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Redeployment is one of the most difficult areas of EB-5 advising today. Formulate the plan forward with Carolyn Lee PLLC guiding you through the policy roadmap.

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Shedding light on the EB-5 Program helps finders of fact and law narrow the issues in conflict. Carolyn Lee has served as EB-5 expert in a variety of litigation settings, state and federal, to clarify the immigration context behind the litigation.

View PDF

Complex RFE/NOIDS5
Restructuring & Change Management5
Redeployment5
EB-5 Litigation Support5

We’re seeing more than twice the denial rates in EB-5 than we saw in the past two years. Each RFE and NOID merits scrutiny to understand the Agency’s concerns and respond appropriately. Bring EB-5 law to bear on this important opportunity to clarify the record and move forward.

View PDF

Managing inevitable changes during extended EB-5 project lifespans will set the durable projects apart. Attorney Carolyn Lee’s corporate transactional experience and years of material change scholarship and advocacy set her apart. Take control over business adaptations to protect your project and investors.

View PDF

Redeployment is one of the most difficult areas of EB-5 advising today. Formulate the plan forward with Carolyn Lee PLLC guiding you through the policy roadmap.

View PDF

Shedding light on the EB-5 Program helps finders of fact and law narrow the issues in conflict. Carolyn Lee has served as EB-5 expert in a variety of litigation settings, state and federal, to clarify the immigration context behind the litigation.

View PDF

complex eb 5 services

RIA EB-5 Compliance Services

Regional Center Annual Certification 360 - New Form I-956G4

The new compliance regime under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act is encapsulated in the new Form I-956G, successor to the Form I-924A. Regional Centers must annually file the new Form I-956G and report their activities to USCIS consistent with RIA requirements. We have studied and commented on Form I-924A since its introduction and helped write the law creating the new Form I-956G. We’re perfectly prepared to keep you in compliance.

Regional Center Annual Certification Preparation - New Form 1-956G5

The new compliance regime under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act is encapsulated in the new Form I-956G, successor to the Form I-924A. Regional Centers must annually file the new Form I-956G and report their activities to USCIS consistent with RIA requirements. We have studied and commented on Form I-924A since its introduction and helped write the law creating the new Form I-956G. We’re perfectly prepared to keep you in compliance.

EB-5 FAQ

What is an EB-5 visa?

An EB-5 visa is a U.S. immigrant (meaning U.S. permanent residency) visa. Another name for an “immigrant visa” is a “green card.” There are different green card categories, based primarily on family-based relationships or employment-based sponsorships. An EB-5 visa is in the employment-based side, and it’s based on investment and U.S. job creation.

Who applies for an EB-5 visa, or who is the primary EB-5 visa applicant?

An EB-5 petitioner is an individual investor. Spouses and children under 21 are also included, as long as children remain under 21 until a visa is available.

What are the basic requirements for an EB-5 visa?

Each investor must invest $1.8 million or $900,000 (if investing in a Targeted Employment Area) and create 10 U.S. jobs for qualifying employees. The EB-5 visa is conditional and temporary. At the end of a 2-year conditional period, the investor must show that the investment was maintained and at least 10 jobs were created.

EB-5 Process

What is the EB-5 regional center program?

The EB-5 regional center program was created in 1993 to allow multiple investors to pool their capital for enhanced economic impact within a defined geographic area. The regional center program is not yet a permanent part of U.S. immigration laws, and so must be reauthorized from time to time.

What is the difference between investment through the EB-5 regional center program and the non-regional center program?

The main difference is how job creation is shown. In the basic EB-5 program, the 10 U.S. jobs must be direct hires of the enterprise into which the EB-5 investor contributes capital. In the regional center EB-5 program, the 10 U.S. jobs can be direct or indirect. This means that the jobs can be created by entities receiving and using the EB-5 capital proceeds, not just the direct hires. Generally accepted job creation methodologies are typically used to measure indirect job creation.

How are job creation methodologies used to show job creation in the regional center program?

Indirect job creation can be established by reasonable methodologies. Reasonable methodologies typically accepted by USCIS include input-output models used by the U.S. government and other public and private entities around the world. These input-output models mathematically estimate the job creation and other economic impact of a particular stimulus to the economy, such as capital investment.

Can EB-5 investors receive their capital back?

The goal of any economic investment is to grow the original investment. This means that the rational hope behind any investment, including an EB-5 investment, is for a gain on the principal invested. However, the EB-5 investment cannot be accompanied by any kind of promise that the investor will actually receive a return of principal or any gain on the principal. This is essentially what it means for EB-5 investment to be required to be an “at risk” investment.

How long is the EB-5 visa process?

The EB-5 process timing depends on a number of moving variables. These variables include investor preparation for filing, USCIS processing times after filing, visa wait times after approval, time for investor and family members to enter the U.S., and USCIS processing times for petitions to remove conditions.

What is the EB-5 visa backlog?

The U.S. immigration system is quota-based, meaning there are generally limits on how many visas may be allocated in a year. There are approximately 10,000 visas available a year in the EB-5 category. Whenever demand by visa applicants exceeds the supply of visas, there is a backlog. While there have been long-standing backlogs in other green card categories, the backlog in the EB-5 category is relatively recent, having onset in mid-2015. Currently, there is a visa backlog for nationals from China and Vietnam.

A visa backlog for Indian nationals onset for the first time in July 2019 with a cut-off date of May 1, 2017. However, after 1 year of erratic priority date movements, EB-5 became current for India in July 2020 and is expected to remain current.

What is the impact of the EB-5 visa backlog?

Visa backlogs mean that investors must wait to obtain their EB-5 visas after I-526 petition approval. The duration of the wait is determined broadly speaking by how many visa applicants are ahead of a particular investor in the visa queue. Because children keep aging until the parent-investor’s place in the queue is reached, in-depth discussion with immigration advisors is essential to informed decision-making and planning before investment.

These FAQs are copyrighted by Carolyn Lee PLLC. Disclaimer: These FAQs do not constitute legal advice. Receiving this material in any form does not create an attorney-client relationship. Only an engagement letter signed by EB-5 visa attorney and client creates an attorney-client relationship. Any time frames mentioned are estimates based on many fluid variables.