News
DHS Whacks Ali
The Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) internal Office of Inspector General has issued a report that the prior head of the USCIS, (now Deputy Secretary of DHS), Alejandro Mayorkas, showed favoritism for a few EB-5 RC projects, including one for a political friend of the Clintons, now the Governor of...
Regional Center Revocation
The USCIS has begun to revoke some inactive RC’s designations. In one decision USCIS states: The regional center’s participation as a regional center in the Program … no longer serves the purpose of promoting economic growth. Regional center’s I-924A filings do not report any EB-5 capital investment or job creation for fiscal...
Proposed EB-5 Legislation
Congressman Polis (D-CO) has introduced a bill in the House to permanently extend the regional center program set to expire on September 30, 2015. His bill is called the “American Entrepreneurship and Investment Act of 2015.” If enacted it would: Allow “similar” entities to Limited Partnerships as investment vehicles.Make TEA letters...
News from India
I am seeing more and more EB-5 applicants from India. On February 3, 2015, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) increased the amount each individual Indian citizen can send abroad in a financial year, from $125,000 to $250,000 without end-use restrictions. The overseas remittance limit comes under a liberalized remittance...
Managing Migration Agents
I had an interesting exchange with a licensed FINRA agent who often works in China to refer EB-5 investors to regional centers. He reports that Chinese migration agents often run ads claiming, “100% guaranteed return of capital.” U.S. regional centers first need to have clear contacts with migration agents including 1)...