Trust
Verify
but
A Legislative Perspective on the EB-5 Regional
Center Program Based On Current Legislative
Proposals and Judiciary Committee Action
by Laura Foote Reiff
What does Congress want to do on the enforcement
and compliance side of the EB-5 Regional Center
programs? We know that agencies, U.S. Citizenship
and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in particular, are becoming much more active in their review
and investigation of compliance requirements.
Congress has also jumped into the fray in the quest for broader,
more comprehensive immigration reform. It is difficult to tell if
there is truly a will to do broad-based and comprehensive immigration reform, but it is clear that some type of reform is coming.
While the U.S. House of Representatives broke for August recess
without passing a single immigration-related bill, it did have
legislation that included EB-5 provisions introduced and marked
up in the Judiciary Committee. The Supplying Knowledge Based
Immigrants and Lifting Levels or STEM Visas Act (H.R. 2131),
also known as The SKILLS Visa Act, was introduced by Rep.
Darrell Issa on May 23, 2013. The SKILLS Visa Act was approved
by the House Judiciary Committee on June 27, 2013. In addition, the Senate did pass S. 744, The Border Security, Economic
Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act. This is a
comprehensive immigration reform measure that also includes
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E B 5 I n v e s to r s M ag a z i n e