The EB-5 Changes Include:

• Permanent Reauthorization: The bill would make the program permanent. It is currently set to sunset in 2015 absent Congressional reauthorization.
• Minimum investment: The minimum investment amounts would be increased to reflect the change in the value of the dollar from the program’s creation in 1990 to the present day and would be prospectively indexed for future inflation. This could increase the base amounts of investment by almost $300,000 initially.
• Job Creation: USCIS currently requires that the job creation requirement be met two years after the grant of a conditional green card when an investor seeks the removal of the conditional status of their permanent residence or “at a reasonable time thereafter.”  The bill states that the required jobs must actually exist at the time that the conditional status is removed and allows USCIS to extend the conditional status for an extra year in order to give an investor additional time to create the required jobs.
• Targeted Employment Areas: In an effort to prevent the “gerrymandering” of low-unemployment areas into targeted employment areas, the bill provides that 1) the relevant “targeted employment area” must fit entirely within a geographical unit that the U.S. Department of Labor has determined has an unemployment rate of at least 150 percent of the national rate; 2) the U.S. Secretary of Labor shall set forth a uniform methodology for determining whether an area qualifies as having unemployment of at least 150 percent of the national rate; and 3) USCIS will not be bound by the decision of any other entity that a particular area has experienced high unemployment. This provision could hamper TEA designations.
• Fraud Deterrence: In order to deter fraud, the bill bars persons from involvement in regional centers who 1) have committed crimes that are considered aggravated felonies under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA); 2) would be inadmissible pursuant to the security and terrorism-related grounds of inadmissibility (if they were aliens seeking admission); or 3) have been convicted of criminal securities fraud or have been found to have engaged in civil securities fraud. Additionally, the section clarifies and expands the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) authority to perform criminal record and background checks on regional center managers, owners, administrators, promoters, and others who have significant responsibility in the regional center. DHS may terminate regional centers from participation in the investor visa program if prohibited persons are involved in the centers or if the centers provide false information in the context of background checks.
• Securities Compliance: The bill requires regional centers to certify compliance with Federal securities laws. USCIS could terminate regional centers for failure to make the necessary certifications or for securities law violations.

Changes to Permanent Residence Options:

As noted above, the bill creates two new permanent residence options for foreign entrepreneurs.

• The first program is for venture capital-backed entrepreneurs who attract investment of at least $500,000 from a qualified venture-capital operating company or at least $100,000 from a qualified angel investor.   The entrepreneur would be given conditional permanent residence for up to three years to create jobs for at least five U.S. workers and two years to raise an additional $1,000,000 in capital or generate not less than $1,000,000 in revenue.
• The second program is for foreign entrepreneurs who have been operating businesses in the U.S. under the E-2 treaty investor non-immigrant visa program.   This program would make permanent residence available to E-2 treaty investors who have maintained their status for a minimum of 10 years and have created jobs for at least five U.S. workers for a minimum of 10 years.

On May 23, 2013, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services will hold a “conversation” regarding the implementation of the new Electronic Immigration System (ELIS). ELIS will transform the current EB-5 paper submission system into an online submission.

At the stakeholder teleconference on March 28, there were several concerns regarding the repeated submission of the documents filed at earlier stages with their Form I-526. USCIS plans to address this issue by adding a “document library” to ELIS so that investors may easily access documents related to the new commercial enterprise submitted with their I-924 Application for a Regional Center and attach them to their Form I-526. This simplifies the administrative hassle of submitting repetitive documents.

The conversation will teach filers the ins and the outs of the system and solicit feedback. If you are interested in participating in person, be quick to sign up as in-person registration is limited to 25 people.

To join in person, email public.engagement@uscis.dhs.gov no later than May 22, 2013. Include your name, the organization you represent and reference “ELIS EB-5” in the subject line.  To call in, visit the registration page before the same date, May 22, 2013. To dial in call: 1-800-857-0174 and with passcode: ELIS.

Senator Grassley has introduced an amendment to Senator Leahy’s Amendment 2, to strike the special rule for alien investors in a regional center that exempt them from meeting the job creation requirement at the I-829 stage set forth in section 203(b)(5)(A)(ii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The result, we believe, would be to strike the I-829 job creation presumption in the Leahy Amendment 2 and have the language revert back to the current law, which requires investors at the I-829 stage to show that they have created 10 indirect or direct jobs.  Senator Grassley’s amendment also would authorize U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to require regional centers to participate in the Employment Verification System (E-Verify) and authorize the Fraud Detection and Nationality Security Directorate (FDNS) to conduct random site visits and compliance audits of regional centers.

Senator Leahy’s Amendment 2 will provide much needed flexibility to the regional center program’s job creation requirements. However, the proposed amendment is likely to have an opposite effect. The Amendments will be going to vote on Thursday. Regional centers and investors, who would like to voice an opinion, can contact the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee prior to the vote.

The government declared this to be a preventative measure as no one seems to have contracted any health issue. Moreover, the powder could not reach the public.

Interviewees should check the schedule on-line before they go for their interview. If the Consulate cancels their interview, interviewees should find an email describing as much in their inbox.