January 18th, 2012 |
 There have been a number of articles in recent weeks about the job creation aspects of the EB5 visa program.
The visa can require applicants to invest $500,000 through what are termed regional center programs. Over 200 regional centers have been approved by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS).
In straightforward terms, each $500,000 investment requires the creation of ten jobs; these jobs are generally required to be in what is termed a targeted employment area (TEA).
The accusations relate to whether the jobs in certain programs are actually in true targeted employment areas. If they are not, the EB5 visa applicant could potentially find themselves in some difficulty two years later when it comes time to have conditions removed from their green card, I-829 petition time.
It is believed that USCIS are looking into some of the accusations.
The two year date is important as the permanent residency (green card), if approved, is initially granted on a conditional basis for a two-year period. At the end of that period the applicant applies for an I-829 petition and will need to show that the funds were utilized as agreed and ten jobs meeting the required criteria were created.
The issue of failure to create approved jobs has already seen a number of I-829 denials; this could lead to the eventual deportation of the EB5 visa holders.
This issue does illustrate just how important it is to carry out detailed due diligence before choosing which particular regional center program is right for all your needs. It is simply not safe enough to take at face value assurances that may be given by regional centers. It is too late to find out there is a problem after you have invested and obtained your conditional visa.
If you are planning to move to The USA on the EB5 visa, contact Chase Brodsky of WhichEB5 who will be happy to set-up a free consultation for you. Which EB5 have a 100% success record with EB5 visa immigrants.
+Stephen Parnell 
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Tags: due diligence, eb5, EB5 visa, gerrymandering, green cars, I-829, job creation, regional centers, TEA, uscis
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December 20th, 2011 |
 An article in the New York Times has highlighted a potential weakness in the EB-5 visa program that may impact on certain regional center projects. The EB-5 visa requires an applicant to invest $500,000 to $1,000,000 in what are termed regional centers; these centers are approved by The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS).
The EB-5 visa has proved an increasingly popular choice in 2011, interest in the program has grown so fast that the USCIS are attempting to streamline the application process.
Given the tightening of credit availability the EB-5 has been viewed by some real estate developers as the ideal way to raise funds, particularly for construction projects.
The idea behind the program is to create jobs, ten per $500,000 investment in targeted employment areas [T.E.A’s]
An examination of the program by The New York Times suggests that in New York, developers and state officials could be stretching the rules to qualify projects for this foreign financing.
There is concern that developers are relying on gerrymandering techniques to create development zones that are meant to be in areas of high unemployment (thus qualifying for the $500,000 investment) but according to federal and state records are in prosperous ones.
The article mentions as a prominent project the International Gem Tower, a 34 storey glass tower in Manhattan that is to cost $750 million with one fifth of the funding coming from EB-5 applicants.
Although it is being built in an area that is reported as one of the wealthiest in the country, the Times reports that through the selective use of census statistics the project falls under (the $500,000) EB-5 requirements.
The newspaper reported that during an interview a senior federal immigration official, Alejandro Mayorkas, acknowledged that the program may need more scrutiny and maps being approved by certain states might not adhere to the spirit and intent of regulations.
There is mention of another area which has been classified as being located as an area that needs help attracting jobs; however there are concerns that the zone resembles a gerrymandered political district.
The article does raise an issue that may be of concern, in that if a particular EB-5 project is judged not to be in a properly qualified Targeted Employment or Rural area the $500,000 investment should actually be $1,000,000.
The continued importance of obtaining independent impartial advice before considering a move to the USA, using the EB-5 visa program, is critical. As a first step it is worth studying the only published consumer guide on the EB-5 process Green Card via the Red Carpet which is available at Amazon.
For personal, one-on-one, impartial information on the EB-5 visa contact Which EB-5 via Email or telephone at +1-561-771-1330
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Tags: Alejandro Mayorkas, amazon, eb-5, EB-5 requirements, EB-5 Visa, gerrymandering, Green Card via the Red Carpet, International Gem Tower, Manhattan, New York Times, regional center, TEA, uscis, Which EB-5
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September 29th, 2011 |
 If you are considering the EB-5 visa you may know that the programs for most Regional Centers have a capital requirement of $500,000 if the program is situated in a Targeted Employment Area (TEA).
The length of time that these Centers hold your funds can vary. Currently the shortest specified period is for four years. Many Regional Centers however do not specify a specific period but have very ambiguous exit strategies and indeed we have heard centers say, off the record, that their exit strategy could be thirty years!
You will also incur three other sets of fee over and above your $500,000 capital requirement.
- Fees paid to The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) to process your application.
- Attorney fees.
- Administration fees to the Regional Center.
Attorney fees can vary enormously; they are generally in a range of $15,000 to $25,000 but can be as high as $45,000. These fees can vary according to what exactly they include. Some Attorneys have been known to make additional charges during the course of the application process.
A higher fee may not be an indication of experience or success. We are aware of Attorneys who charge at the lower end who have processed many EB-5 applications and have a 100% record of success. We know of others at the higher end of the scale who have very limited EB-5 experience!
The administration fees charged by the Regional centers can also vary enormously but generally fall into a range from $35,000 to $65,000. Again a higher fee is not necessarily indicative of a better program. We are aware of programs at the lower price range with an extensive track record of success at both the I-526 and I-829 stage. We are also aware of Regional Centers charging a much higher fee with a very limited track record.
If you would like more detailed information without charge contact the EB5 Experts at Which EB5
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Tags: eb-5, EB-5 Visa, fees, I-526, I-829, regional center, TEA, uscis
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August 25th, 2011 |
 If you are considering the EB-5 visa as an appropriate method to obtain permanent residency in the USA for you and your family you have probably undertaken some research to find out as much as possible about the process.
As you may have found out, the visa can require you to invest $500,000 in what is termed a regional center. To date there are, in theory, over 150 of these centers which have been authorized by The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) to offer programs that may qualify for the EB-5 visa.
You may have made some enquiries and asked a number of questions such as:
What are the number of applications and the success rate of these centers at the initial approval stage (I-526) and the removal of conditions stage (I-829)?
You may also want to know how firm the exit strategy is, i.e. the return of your $500,000.
There are numerous other questions that need to be asked and the answers carefully evaluated to make certain you are getting a completely truthful response rather than an answer designed to get you to buy-in to a particular project. These questions include the reality or otherwise of the centers targeted employment area (TEA) status.
However, assuming you are using an experienced EB-5 consultant with a 100% track record to provide you with this information, one question it is imperative to ask is *have you actually visited, on a regular basis, the centers you are commenting on?
It is also important to define what a visit is; it should not just involve being entertained by the Regional Center salespeople. It should involve looking at the program in depth and visiting the surrounding areas to obtain an overall impression of the program.
Over several years we have uncovered many issues from the visits we have regularly made to EB-5 Regional Centers. Some of these discoveries have been negative, others positive, but they have all been important issues that those considering the EB-5 program should be aware of.
Choosing an EB-5 visa regional center program requires experienced and impartial advice, you cannot simply rely on the information given by the regional centers or some of the consultants and attorneys who, in reality, are actually working with a particular regional center.
If you would like more information on your options and a free consultation on the strengths and weaknesses of EB-5 programs contact Which EB-5
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Tags: consultants, eb-5, EB-5 Visa, exit stratergy, I-526, I-829, impartial, importnant questions, regional center, TEA, uscis, visa
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August 15th, 2011 |
 There are many regional centers competing for your business. Some are truly excellent at the art of selling you a place on their program regardless of the merits of your other options. Certainly there are some excellent programs, but without independent expert advice how are you going to sort the good from the bad?
There are centers that have had refusals (at both the I-526 and I-829 stage), a center that lost its permission from USCIS to operate its program, a center where there may be concerns regarding meeting the required 10 jobs per investor criteria. One suspects that these regional centers may not be highlighting these points to potential investors.
Last year, a regional center in California had its regional center status revoked. The Center was unable to demonstrate that they met the criteria required by The United States Citizenship and Immigration service (USCIS) to raise funds; this was after the center had already received $9.5 million dollars from foreign investors! Have those investors received all their money back? Did they receive independent advice prior to selecting this center? were they warned of the investigations into the center?
Even a visit to a regional center is no guarantee of success. An official regional center tour can often highlight the positives but ignore the negatives. As an example a couple of centers in tourist areas often seem an attractive option to tourists on holiday / vacation in the areas. However, research from independent sources indicate specific reasons for, among other things, low property values in these areas which could severly impact your choice.
Another issue you may wish to consider is the track record of top management/directors in a regional center program. If the heads of a regional center have had adverse criticism or coverage in the past, are they likely to be highlighting this in their sales material?
Other centers may have difficulties in terms of creating the required ten jobs per investor or providing the necessary evidence of being Targeted Employment Areas (TEA).
The EB-5 visa requires a $500,000 investment in a United States Citizenship and Immigration center (USCIS) Regional Center Programs. The track record of these programs varies considerably and investment terms can be as little as four years. It is vital you obtain independent information from experienced advisers prior to making a decision on Regional Center programs.
If you would like more information on these visa options and a free consultation contact Which EB-5
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Tags: california, consultants, EB-5 Visa, eb5, expert advice, I-526, I-829, independent, regional center, TEA, uscis, Which EB-5
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June 28th, 2011 |
The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa provides permanent residence (Green card) status in the USA for the applicant, their spouse and their unmarried children under 21.
Green Card status provides flexibility to study, retire, work or run a business and live anywhere in the USA. There are no educational or language requirements.
The United States Citizenship and Immigration service (USCIS) has approved approximately 135 entities called Regional Centers to offer projects that qualify for this visa.
These Regional Center projects are required to create at least ten jobs per investor and to qualify for the $500,000 investment need to be in specific rural or Targeted Employment Areas (TEA).
The minimum investment is $500,000 and associated administration, legal and filing fees will amount to approximately $60,000.
Several thousand immigrants have successfully relocated to the USA through the EB-5 visa program. However, there have been a small but important minority who has experienced problems, including loss of some or all of their investment. In addition some face potential deportation from the USA.
Regional Centers generally offer three types of project:-
- Loan based investments, generally for a specific number of years.
- Equity based investments in property, generally with a less clear exit strategy (when you get your investment back) i.e. dependant on the market at the time.
- Equity based trading businesses which may be affected by trading conditions; again their exit strategy is generally dependent on market forces.
Many previous EB-5 visa immigrants have placed an importance on a centers previous record of success and a clear exit strategy.
Unfortunately exaggerated sales claims can be a potential issue with a number of the programs and whilst the majority of participants have been successful and earlier clients, in specific programs have had their $500,000 investment returned in full, a few have had real problems.
To find out the advantages and disadvantages of the EB-5 Regional Center Program it’s well worth reading Green Card via the Red Carpet.
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Tags: deportation, EB-5 Visa, facts, green card, immigrant investor, permanent residence, problems, regional center, TEA, USA, uscis, visa
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
June 16th, 2011 |
 Over the past few months the time taken by USCIS to process the EB-5 visa at the I-526 stage has been getting longer. We have had reports from both applicants and attorneys that it has not been unusual for it to take up to nine months from the initial filing to the approval.
There have been a number of reasons put forward for these longer times, including the significant increase in applications by prospective Regional Centers as well as applications for I-526s and I-829s, which have flooded the system.
USCIS had recruited additional staff to cope with the increased number of applications however, training requirements for these staff inevitably led to further delays for a period of time.
Two recent developments may indicate processing times may be starting to return to previous more rapid turnarounds.
- Recent proposals have referred to both premium processing as well as speedier processing times for several categories of EB-5 applications. If these measures are eventually enacted processing times should come down significantly.
- Within the past two weeks certain Regional Centers have reported a significant number of I-526 approvals being granted for their backlog of applications. This is also an encouraging signal that the backlog of applications may be clearing.
One important observation that has been made to us by a number of Attorneys is the number of Requests for Further Evidence (RFE’s) that has been issued by USCIS over the past few months on I-526 applications. Although the number of points raised in these RFEs has seemed to depend on particular programs, one issue that seems to repeatedly come up relates to whether a program is in a properly defined targeted Employment Area (TEA) or not.
It is apparent that some Regional Centers have tried to challenge the accepted Governmental interpretations of TEAs. These challenges should be of concern to potential EB-5 immigrants as they may well become a problem both at the I-526 stage and most importantly at the I-829 stage.
If you are considering an EB-5 as your route to permanent residency in the USA contact WhichEB5 for further information and a free consultation.
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Tags: attorneys, eb-5, I-526, I-829, immigrants, premium processing, regional center, RFE, TEA, uscis, visa, waiting times, Which EB-5
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May 18th, 2011 |
 The EB5 Immigrant Investor Program is designed to provide non U.S. investors with permanent residence in the USA based on an investment of $500,000 in a designated regional center project that is approved by the USCIS -AND- is located in a targeted employment area. (TEA)
The EB5 visa enables you and your immediate family to live in the USA as long as you chose. If you want after 5 years you can become a US citizen.
As much as we believe in the EB5 visa (we have had 100% success with over 200 families) we realize that every family has somewhat different reasons for immigrating to the USA. We are very aware that it can seem a daunting process (we are first generation immigrants ourselves) and there are many unscrupulous people out to mislead you. That’s why we wrote the best selling consumer guide to the EB-5 Visa “Green Card via the Red Carpet”, several web sites, and the leading EB5 blog on the subject. All these are designed to give you as much information as possible about the EB-5 process so you can make an informed decision.
If you would like more information on the EB5 visa, its strengths and weaknesses please contact the experts at Which EB5
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Tags: eb5, eb5 blog, Green Card via the Red Carpet, immigrant investor, immigrating, TEA, US Citizen, USA, visa, what is an eb5 visa?
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April 27th, 2011 |
If you are searching the web for information on the EB-5 visa you have probably found many regional center websites that claims to offer the best program.
Unfortunately obtaining impartial information from the company selling you the product can be very difficult and therefore you tend to only hear the advantages and sadly discover the disadvantages after you have made a commitment.
An example of this problem can be seen in the EB-5 regional center program where Regional Centers often focus on their apparent advantages, but make little or no mention of some extremely important issues. One of these issues relates to what is termed a “Targeted Employment Area” or TEA.
Targeted Employment Area is defined by law as “a rural area or an area that has experienced high unemployment of at least 150 percent of the national average. Definition from USCIS
One of the requirements of the EB-5 visa is that the program requires the creation (or in certain cases preservation) of ten jobs per investor. These jobs have to be in a specific area and this can be where the problem starts.
Some Regional Centers have sought to redefine A TEA for a particular program. Others have highlighted the strength of their TEA but not mentioned the adverse impact this strength could have in terms of the exit strategy (return of the immigrant investors $500,000).
If you are considering the EB-5 visa it is important that we cover the importance of TEAs with you, please contact us for a telephone or video conference on ++1-561-771-1330
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Tags: eb-5, exit stratergy, regional center, targeted employment area, TEA, uscis, visa
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April 26th, 2011 |
While many immigrants to the USA have made a completely successful relocation to the USA on the EB-5 visa there has been concern recently about the advice some families are receiving about this visa.
The visa requires an investment of $500,000 in certain specific areas of the USA (rural / high unemployment) and allows successful applicants, their spouse and their unmarried children under 21 to receive conditional green cards (permanent residency in the USA).
The investment is required to be in what is termed a Government approved Regional Center program and there sometimes lies a potential problem.
Whereas a few years ago there was only a handful of such programs this year there could be eventually over two hundred. The vast majority of the newer programs have very little statistical evidence of performance.
To obtain information about programs some prospective immigrants approach Attorneys and Consultants for impartial advice. However, some of these Attorneys and Consultants have a worrying conflict of interest as they are also advising companies on how to set up as a Regional Center and how to obtain clients.
Additionally, with so many EB-5 Regional Centers and a limited number of interested immigrant investors, there is pressure to “deliver” investor clients and the tactics and techniques employed by some of the Center’s, their agents and “finders” are a cause for concern.
Further information on the EB-5 Regional Center program is available in the book written for immigrants on this subject – Green Card via the Red Carpet
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Tags: attorney, consultants, eb-5, green card, Green Card via the Red Carpet, immigrants, regional center, TEA, USA, visa
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