Read the article Commonly, USCIS challenges to EB-5 petitions may allege an investment is not eligible because it either (a) is not held “at risk,” (b) constitutes a “debt arrangement,” or (c) will result in a “guaranteed redemption.” However, though these terms differ substantially, the distinctions are poorly understood by many [...]
"EB-5 projects should be well advised to consider changes as they move forward, in order to maximize their chances of success at all levels." Read the article The EB-5 marketplace continues to evolve, and USCIS’s standards along with it. In recent years, a number of unofficial “rule” changes have trickled down to regional [...]
Today for EB-5 investors, the importance of a regional center in your operational plan is key for your investment. According to Form I-924 instructions for regional center designation, an application must include a business plan for how the principals of the regional center anticipate they will manage and operate the regional center once approved. In [...]
What does the future of EB-5 fundraising mean to foreign investors? Now that China’s EB-5 visa backlog has stretched well into the 2030s, the powerful Chinese visa agents — who once controlled the flow of information to the majority of the industry’s investors — have largely gone away. Who, or what, will replace them? In [...]
The EB-5 visa was originally intended to spur job creation in the manufacturing industry — in fact, a 2003 ruling said that real estate construction jobs couldn’t count toward the job creation figures required under the program. Today, however, EB-5 capital is no longer viewed as simply an alternative source of financing How, then, has [...]
Compared to other Citizenship/Residency by Investment programs globally, the EB-5 visa isn’t structured very attractively. For one, it’s more expensive than most countries’ programs (which average about $350,000 USD). The majority of other countries also do not require proof of job creation, and the investment can be made directly into a private real asset. However, [...]
The EB-5 industry is currently more than three years into a destabilizing period of recurring short-term program reauthorizations. As we start 2019, Medallion Partner Jeff Carr offers his reflections on the state of an industry in limbo, and the possible solutions that may come — calling for legislators and EB-5 stakeholders to put aside their [...]
EB-5 petitioners may differ in many respects, but they all share the same basic goals when they decide to make an investment: 1) They want to obtain permanent green cards for themselves and their eligible family members, and 2) they want their investment capital preserved and returned as soon as allowed by USCIS rules. Although [...]
As wait times for Chinese-born EB-5 investors surpass the average length of EB-5 development projects, the need to “redeploy” their capital into secondary projects (to maintain the required “at risk” status of the funds) has become a challenging industry reality. An estimated $17 billion in EB-5 capital will require redeployment over the next four [...]
When deciding on an EB-5 project to invest in, it goes without saying that investor due diligence is a critical part of the process. However, the most obvious metrics that investors and their attorneys often think to look at — for example, a given regional center’s track record of I-526 approvals — aren’t always [...]