New alphabetical list of EB-5 Regional Centers approved by USCIS

It is important to keep in mind the following points when considering EB-5 Regional Centers from this list.

• Which have had I-526 petition refusals?
• Which have had I-829 petition acceptances and which have had refusals?
• Which have been the subjects of court action?
• Which have repaid $500,000 in full? Which have not?

If you would like to be sent detailed information on your EB5 Visa options, a report from a leading EB5 Immigration attorney, or would like a briefing on EB5 alternatives click here or telephone: +1-561-771-1330

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Sadly every year there are many reports in local newspapers throughout the USA of families who legally immigrated to the USA many years ago who have operated small businesses employing US workers, have paid US taxes on their company profits and earnings, indeed have done everything right but then find themselves in the awful position of having to leave the USA and return to their old country or see their children having to leave the USA when they reach the age of 21, even though those children have grown up in the USA and have no affiliation or contacts with their birth country.

E2 Visa Causing Heartache for families whose children have to leave the USA

The problem for these families is often that they selected or were advised to select an inappropriate visa when they first moved to the USA and often the visa behind many of these issues is the E2 visa. The E2 is a visa that does not provide for permanent resident status so that in a range of situations, including children turning twenty-one, it can become necessary to leave the USA.

In a recently reported case there was reference to a young woman who was shortly turning 21 who had immigrated to the USA when she was 12, had been educated in the USA, spoke with an American accent, supported her local US football team, had received scholarship funding to a prestigious US collage and now faced having to return to her country of birth despite building her life in the USA. All this because her family had originally relocated to the USA using the E2 visa.

An increasing number of families who have become aware of this potential problem for their sons and daughters are turning to the EB-5 visa as the solution, as the EB-5, (unlike the E2) provides permanent resident status for the visa applicant, their spouse and all their unmarried children under twenty-one.

The EB-5 can require applicants to fund $500,000 into what is termed a regional center program. To date the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has approved well over 230 of these regional centers. However, their track record varies greatly, from those with a 100% long-term success record of immigrant cases to those where there have been a number of problems, including in certain cases ongoing investigation for fraud, therefore it is vital to get all the facts before proceeding.

For more information about the EB-5 visa and how it has assisted those families facing problems due to their E2 visa status contact Which EB5 on the web or by email.

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It is understandable, when you are looking to get detailed information on the EB5 visa as the best option to obtain permanent residence in the USA for you and your family, that you hope to get both the best and the clearest advise available, and you probably also hope that there is consistency in that advice, particularly if it comes from some well-known EB5 visa Attorneys.

We were recently contacted by a family who had looked into the EB5 visa for some time and were getting to the stage of planning their timetable on the application process, starting with the question about how long their I-526 petition was likely to take through the processing procedure of The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS).

EB5 Visa Answers by Attorney’s

This family was particularly confused as they had come across a web site that specializes in questions and answers on the EB5 visa answered by attorneys. One such question related to current processing times on the EB5 and there had been a significant number of responses from the various attorney participants – the problem being the answers ranged from four months to over a year – a very big difference. Understandably they were puzzled by this big discrepancy in advice and the lack of detailed explanation for the different answers.

As we mentioned in one of our recent blogs, current processing times by USCIS are about a year or so, although there have been a few instances of applications being processed in less time as well as some taking longer.

There are specific reasons for these deviations from the average, which we can go through with you to try to clarify what your personal experience will be like. This can be one of the most confusing question and answer scenarios but it does not have to be. Contact Which EB5 on the web or by email for a free personal consultation and more information.

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This is a question that is often asked by immigrants considering the EB5 visa and one where the answer can change a lot over a few months.

For many of you planning to apply for permanent resident status in the USA using the EB5 visa, the timing of when you need to start your application process can be an issue for you if you want to start your life in the USA on a particular date.

As an example, if you want your children to begin school in the USA at the start of the new school year (2014), which in many states begins in August 2014, you may be surprised to know that current EB5 visa processing times through the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) are, now about one year. Based on this you need to begin your EB-5 visa application process as soon as possible.

Remember, that even after approval by USCIS (referred to as the I-526) those of you outside the USA you still have to go through consular processing, this can take several more months.

The move of EB5 Visa processing from the California Service Center to a new site in Washington DC

A combination of factors, including the number of applications being filed, the move of EB5 visa processing from the California Service Center to a new site in Washington DC, and the need for even closer scrutiny by the USCIS following a major regional center fraud problem, have all joined to make processing times longer.

Other timing issues include when is the best time to transfer your currency into US dollars? Ongoing economic crisis with the Euro and concerns that problems could spread to other European countries has seen the Euro seem more vulnerable against the dollar over the past few months. This is a particular concern to potential immigrants from Russia who often have their funds in Euros and who could face major losses in the event of the Euro falling in value and confiscation/taxation on their Euro deposits held in Cyprus.

As a result, there are a number of immigrants who wish to begin the EB5 visa process as quickly as possible to reduce the impact of further potential currency falls and to make sure their application has the greatest chance of being processed as soon as possible.

We are carrying out a series of briefings on the EB5 visa. If you would like more information on these or any issues on the EB5 visa which are of concern to you please contact Which EB5 on the web or by email.

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At first glance for many of you considering the EB-5 visa, this might seem a very strange question. After all, America is a country that is all about choice and you might understandably feel that the more choice the better.

Going back only a few years those immigrants who were considering the EB-5 visa as their best route to America had only a limited number programs to look at and if one of their main considerations was I-829 approvals their list of options became even smaller.

However, with The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service approving ever-increasing numbers of regional centers to offer qualifying programs for the EB-5 visa, the number of regional centers is now well into the two hundreds and still increasing.

Although greater choice would seem to be a good thing, it does give the potential EB-5 applicant a potential problem in finding out which of the regional center options best match their own specific requirements.

Knowing where to start is for many potential EB-5 applicants a dilemma. They can hardly visit over two hundred programs so when should they turn to the many services offered by immigration attorneys, corporate attorneys, economists, accountants, sales consultants, investment advisers, regional center analysts, to say nothing of the regional centers themselves?

Information you need to choose the right EB-5 Regional Center

Everyone is at a different stage of the EB-5 process and a number of you may still be considering whether America would actually be a good option for the relocation of your family, others need to make the move as quickly as possible for business or family reasons.

The performance of regional centers that have operated programs for some years varies considerably.  A few have maintained a 100% record at the I-526 petition stage and of particular importance at the I-829 stage (removal of conditions). Others by contrast have been, or are in the process of litigation, in at least one case with a number of their actual applicants taking action against them through the courts.

Many of the approved EB-5 regional centers are not offering live projects, others have no measurable statistics to draw comparisons on and others have not yet developed a critical mass of applicants, therefore requiring careful review when considering them.

The amount of information available on the EB-5 visa grows by the day, but so much of this information is marketing and sales based. The information provided can fail to offer prospective applicants a factual and independent perspective and do not point out negative aspects, simply the positive points.

For the latest information and to make sure you have the information you need to choose the right regional center, contact Which EB5 on the web or by email.

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Over the past few months there have been an increasing number of news articles which in one way or another look at this view. The comments made will be of interest for those of you looking into the EB-5 visa, as your favored route for permanent residence in The USA.

Whatever economic struggles the USA has gone through, many people throughout the world continue to view the USA as their number one choice for immigration. A recent immigrant has been quoted as saying:-

“ America is a land that offers a chance to be whatever you want to be, it is a place where nearly any immigrant can find a niche. In America you can say what you think.”

The enormous land size, climatic and population diversity of America provides new immigrants with a huge range of options and choices, about where to live, study, work and in terms of culture, climate, activities etc.!

It is interesting to realize that 13% of Americans were born overseas and indeed nearly all Americans were themselves descended from a relative, who came from somewhere else at some stage over the past couple of hundred years. Whatever country an immigrant may move from, it is extremely likely that if they want to they will be able to find ethnic kin somewhere in The USA.

America is continuing to emerge from its economic difficulties at a time when other regions and countries are undergoing their own particular difficulties, some of which may be long term. Indeed even the US housing market which collapsed to spectacularly in 2006 and is seen as being instrumental in America’s economic problems has shown encouraging signs of ongoing recovery and indeed growth over the past year. The low point of American housing prices has now passed and immigrants planning to buy property once they arrive in America are realizing they need to act sooner rather than later as prices continue to increase.

Some countries in the European Union (euro area) continue to suffer ongoing financial disruptions which several economists have forecast will only end with the eventual collapse of the Euro. The Socialist government in France has raised tax rates and unemployment rates continue to climb, in ever sharper contrast to the ongoing growth in employment opportunities and lower tax rates enjoyed in the USA.

The current financial crisis in Cyprus

The current financial crisis in Cyprus where government proposals to effectively confiscate a proportion of peoples savings in certain banks, in return for loans from other euro members has caused great concern that such a plan could be applied in other euro members countries. Such action at a stroke effectively confiscates a proportion of savings held in bank accounts. No wonder many wealthy Europeans are looking to leave Europe and move to the USA as quickly as possible!

Some countries in South and Middle America are facing problems in their economies with the value of a number of currencies falling against the US dollar. In several of these countries there are very real worries on the ongoing level in crimes of violence, with an increasing number of wealthy families looking to the EB-5 as their best route to the relative safety of permanent residency in the USA and the protection of their family.

Chinese families are concerned about uncertainties with potential economic slowdown, the potentially dangerous overheating in the housing sector and the uncertainty due to the recent change of leading political figures in the ruling élite. Recent problems with specific EB-5 programs heavily sold in China has however made them more cautious about the advice they select, particularly when the advice is through specific agents based in China who have received extremely high levels of commissions and been recommending unproven and indeed allegedly fraudulent regional center programs.

Indian families are also concerned about possible falls in their currency against the US dollar, the possibility of economic slowdown and the need to act sooner rather than later to avoid their impact of the rupee depreciating against the dollar.

Given these concerns, problems and changes in many other regions of the world the USA is looking an ever more attractive and safe option for many people and the EB-5 visa when properly researched and a proven well documented program selected, is considered by increasing numbers of prospective immigrants as the least complicated and sometimes the only method to get permanent resident status for their family (the applicant, their spouse and their unmarried children under 21).

The Senior Partners of Which EB5 are themselves first generation immigrants and have covered many aspects of the immigration process to the USA in their book Green Card via The Red Carpet. For more information or an informal discussion on the EB-5 process contact Which EB5 on the web or by email.

5 Reasons Why I Love America

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The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) announced on April 5^th that the H-1B capping level had been reached. USCIS will not be accepting any new H1-B petitions that are subject to the cap level, until April 1^st 2014.

The difficulty for those wishing to use the H-1B as their chosen route to live and work in the USA is emphasized, in that, for the first time since 2008, the cap level for the H-1B was reached in the first week for filing.

The numbers allowed for the H-1B are 85,000 visas a year but by April 8^th a statement from USCIS reported that 124,000 visa petitions had been received, requiring a random lottery system to bring the numbers down to 85,000 for adjudication.

In the past the annual excess in numbers of those applying for the H1-B visa has led to a rise in enquiry numbers for those then considering the EB-5 visa as their best alternative route to achieve permanent resident status in the USA.

The numbers allowed for the H-1B are 85,000 visas a year

However, the number of immigrants choosing the EB-5 visa has itself risen over the past few years, although the quota of 10,000 visas for the EB-5 quota has yet to be reached; thus making the EB-5 visa a potential alternative to those looking for a realistic visa option.

The EB-5 visa has the added advantage of providing permanent resident status for the applicant, their spouse and their unmarried children under the age of 21.

The EB-5 requires the applicant to fund ($500,000) for a place in their choice of a USCIS registered regional center program. A number of these regional centers now have program availability; however, these programs vary in terms of track record.

For more information about the EB-5 visa contact Which EB5 on the web or by email

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So much of the information available on the EB-5 visa can fail to give what you, as a potential immigrant, may actually want and need to know specific to your own individual needs.

Every person and family have their own specific reasons for considering a permanent move to America and their own specific questions they need answering before deciding if the EB-5 visa is their best way into the USA.

Over the past few years we, and our specialist advisors, (attorneys, tax consultants, accountants etc.) have covered many issues with thousands of different families who are working out how they will settle in the USA on the EB-5 visa.

Questions that have been asked include:-

• How will the education system in the area I am looking at impact on my children?
• What are the points I need to be aware of about the US system of health care?
• What issues do I need to be aware of about my overseas assets and the US tax system?
• How long do I need to allow for the EB-5 process if I want to be in the USA by a certain date?
• What are the positive and negative aspects of settling in different states and cities of the USA?
• What issues have immigrants discovered who have moved here to work or retire?
• What are the immigration issues I need to be aware of regarding the EB-5 visa?

The EB-5 visa program now has over 230 approved regional centers

Often potential immigrants had found obtaining a detailed and straightforward answer to these and many other questions has been difficult to get before contacting Which EB5

As you may know the EB-5 regional center program now has over 230 approved regional centers, each with different programs, your choice should depend upon your own priorities and circumstances.

It is important to receive independent help on these options that gives you information on both the good and bad aspects of the various programs. Unfortunately, sometimes you are told what sales agents believe you want to hear and not what you need to hear!

Clients have told us in the past that they have been given incorrect or partial information by the agents and regional centers they were previously speaking to rather than the simple straightforward facts; this seems to be a particular problem for people who do not speak English as a first language and are relying on obtaining information from agents not based in The USA.

For a free informal discussion on your own personal immigration requirements and the EB-5 visa contact Which EB5 on he web or by email.

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Guest blog by attorney Anthony Olson - What Factors Are Important In Selecting An Immigration Attorney To Handle Your EB-5 Immigration Process?

The EB-5 immigration process is a complex area of immigration law, which requires in-depth knowledge of the statutes, regulations, and precedent decisions governing the EB-5 program, knowledge of USCIS’s current policies and interpretations of the statutes and regulations, and extensive experience from past EB-5 cases about how to handle complications that arise in connection with the investor’s source of funds or with the EB-5 project. Therefore, the attorney’s knowledge and experience in the EB-5 field, as well as his or her overall lawyering skills are of paramount importance.

Knowledge, Experience, and Skill

The success of the immigration process ultimately depends on how well the EB-5 project and how well the investor’s source of funds satisfy the immigration legal requirements. However, it comes down to the attorney’s skill in explaining and documenting convincingly to USCIS how the project and the investor’s source of funds satisfy the immigration legal requirements. Moreover, before it even reaches the point of preparing and filing the I-526 petition, the EB-5 investor relies on the attorney’s knowledge of the EB-5 field and experience in assessing the chances of success with the investor’s source of funds and with the EB-5 project that the investor is considering to invest in.

Commitment to Serving the Client’s Interests First

The attorney’s accountability and accessibility to the client, as well as his or her commitment to the client’s success and safety are also of crucial importance. Over the years, some attorneys become complacent and begin to take their clients for granted. In its milder form, this takes the form of not responding to clients’ calls or emails, and not answering the clients’ questions. In its more serious form, attorneys become focused on receiving finders fees from regional centers in addition to collecting legal fees from clients, and then the attorney might aim to refer clients to the regional center that pays the highest referral fee rather than by assisting the client to determine which regional center is safest for the client’s immigration process. Whether the attorney has ulterior financial motives contrary to the client’s interests is a factor to consider in selecting an attorney. One should also consider how promptly the attorney responds to the client’s calls and emails, as well as how thoroughly the attorney answers the client’s questions.

Communications with the EB-5 Attorney

As previously mentioned, it is very important that the attorney communicate promptly with the client and answer the client’s questions thoroughly. It is also important that the attorney answers the client’s questions and explains the immigration process in a manner that the client understands. In other words, the attorney should not speak in legalistic terms that only other immigration attorneys would understand, but rather in terms that the average person can understand. At the same time, the attorney should never make you feel that your questions indicate ignorance or are unimportant. Instead, the attorney should assist you to become an informed consumer. Finally, if you feel more comfortable speaking a language other than English, the attorney should be willing to use interpreters or his own assistants who speak your native language in order to make sure that you understand important information that he or she is discussing with you. There are many immigration attorneys who are themselves bilingual or multilingual.

Thoroughness in Preparing the Case

Many small details of the client’s source of funds or the project’s operation and job creation methodology can make or break the client’s EB-5 case. Therefore, it is of crucial importance that the attorney examine the investor’s source of funds throughly to make sure that no questions will arise as to its legality or that the trail of funds can be clearly documented. Beyond the source of funds, it is also important that the attorney determine whether the client or the client’s family members could be denied in the immigration process due to past criminal convictions, past immigration violations in the U.S., use of illegal drugs, association with any groups that pose a security threat to the U.S., Communist party membership, among others. Also, USCIS looks to see if the investor has been the target of administrative proceedings by government authorities or of civil litigation by private parties, either of which would be indicative of the investor having engaged in illegal or fraudulent activities that have given rise to such legal actions against the investor. Finally, the attorney must examine carefully the project’s compliance with all immigration legal requirements, in particular, how it will prove sufficient job creation at the I-526 and I-829 petition stages. The EB-5 investor must be sure that the attorney will “go the extra mile” in handling the client’s case in the most thorough, carefully thought out, and safest manner possible.

Does the Attorney’s Location Matter?

When applying for permanent residence through the EB-5 immigrant investor program, it does not matter where the investor’s immigration attorney is located. Under the EB-5 program, there is no possibility for in-person submission of documents or presentation of the case to USCIS. Instead, immigration attorneys prepare petitions with supporting documents, and ship those documents to the USCIS office that adjudicates the petitions. The same is true of the process through U.S. consulates abroad. Pretty much no consulate nowadays allows for immigration attorneys to attend interviews, and even if they do allow attendance, the consular officers are not interested to hear explanations from the attorney, but rather from the investor directly.

Some EB-5 investors like the comfort and convenience of walking into the immigration attorney’s office. While this might facilitate face-to-face communication and the dropping off of documents in-person, it does not really improve the chances of success in the immigration process. The main factors in the attorney-client relationship that maximize the chances of success are 1) the attorney’s knowledge, experience, and skill, 2) thoroughness in preparing the investor’s case, 3) the quality of communications and cooperation between the attorney and client, and 4) the quality of cooperation with the regional center.

Good Cooperation among the Attorney, Client, and Regional Center

The EB-5 process cannot succeed based on the attorney’s work alone. First of all, the client needs to disclose to the immigration attorney any arrests, convictions, administrative proceedings or civil litigation against him or her, since these can adversely impact the client’s EB-5 case, and so the attorney needs to know about them in order to assess the potential impact on the case. The attorney needs the complete cooperation of the client in disclosing the information and documentation that the attorney considers useful and necessary for proving the legal source of the client’s funds.

The same holds true for the regional center, namely that the regional center needs to provide the documentation that the attorney considers useful and necessary for, among other things, demonstrating that the regional center’s project will create at least 10 jobs per investor; explaining how the project will spend all funds from EB-5 investors in the job-creating business activity, and will do so without providing any guaranty or redemption option; establishing the credibility of the project and its likelihood to achieve successfully the stated business objectives; documenting that the business is located in a Targeted Employment Area (TEA), which qualifies the EB-5 investors based on an investment of $500,000; and confirming that the project will operate in the geographic area and in an industry that were approved for the regional center, and will use the economist model and job creation methodology that the regional center was approved to use.

Conclusion

Aside from choosing the best qualifying regional center and project, the selection of the right immigration attorney is crucial to the investor’s success in the EB-5 immigration process. The investor should evaluate the immigration attorney to ensure that he or she has the skills, experience, knowledge, honesty, and ethical rectitude discussed above. At the same time, the investor must be prepared to give the immigration attorney his or her full cooperation, honesty, and openness in order to succeed in the immigration process because the immigration attorney cannot succeed without having sufficient documentation from the investor and without knowing all of the investor’s circumstances that could adversely affect the case. It is important for the investor to volunteer all remotely relevant information, and let the immigration attorney determine whether it is relevant or important for the case.

For complete EB-5 visa information and/or a free consultation please contact Which EB5 on the web or by email.

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Over the past few years we have covered many questions on the EB-5 visa, including why you may feel it is important to choose an immigration attorney with an extensive and varied track record of the EB-5 visa process to carry out your EB-5 visa application.

A number of events we have heard about over the years serve to further emphasize the importance of this reasoning.

• One example of where things could have gone wrong related to a prospective client whose son was shortly due to age out (turn 21). In such circumstances speed and accuracy of application were important criteria, however, the attorney he was working with was apparently not giving enough emphasis to the situation which was as a result taking a lot longer than necessary. Indeed, there was the distinct danger that the son would have aged out before the application was filed, meaning he could not have been included in the family’s application.

• After another potential client contacted us about various regional centers we became concerned that much of the information they were talking about seemed completely wrong. The client had apparently obtained the information from an attorney who was providing advice on the regional center he should choose. This client had originally used the attorney for a completely separate and unrelated legal matter and been very happy with the service he provided in that matter. However, it turned out that the attorney had little experience or knowledge on the EB-5 visa program and process.

To use a medical analogy, “you would probably not use a surgeon who had specialized and carried out many successful knee replacement procedures to undertake a heart transplant”.

There are a number of immigration attorneys who are specialized in the EB- 5 Visa

There are a number of immigration attorneys who have specialized in the EB- 5 visa for many years, are well-recognized in the EB-5 visa field, are very experienced in all areas of its potential complexities, have an excellent reputation with at least several hundred previous clients and often charge fees that are no more and sometimes less than inexperienced attorneys.

In another situation a prospective client asked for an opinion of the track record of a particular regional center that had apparently been recommended by his attorney. We discovered that the client had not been made aware of the centers I-829 refusals or other processing issues all of which could be important considerations and lead to complications several years after obtaining an EB-5 visa!

If you are considering the EB-5 visa and would like further independent information including details on suitably experienced EB-5 attorneys contact Which EB5 on the web or by email.

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