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The text: “EB-5 Petition Processing Times”
What it does: Establishes concrete timeframes for petition and application rulings
What it means: Current USCIS processing times for
I-924 or I-526 forms are 12-18 months. This threatens
the EB-5 projects and jobs they will create. This portion of
the bill requires that the Secretary of Homeland Security
provides an expedited processing option for certain petitions. The bill dictates that USCIS will make rulings on
I-829 and other petitions “not later than 180 days after
the date on which the proposal or application is filed.”
Faster processing times mean more investors get through
the application process, bringing additional investments to
the United States and creating more jobs.
“Obviously, as far as processing times go, the faster the
better,” immigration attorney Edward Beshara said. “A
quicker approval means that the investor gets their permanent residency and can come to the United States faster.”
According to Beshara, the bill’s provision is especially
helpful for investors whose children are close to the USCIS
age limit.
“For investors with children who are nearing 21 years old,
their conditional residency is two or three years off. Their children could ‘age out’ before they get their green card,” Beshara
said. The faster processing times stipulated in Congressman
Polis’ bill also help to combat Chinese retrogression, and
when combined with the bills’ removal of “derivatives” from
the visa count and its elimination of a per-country visa cap,
retrogression could be ended altogether.
“By raising the per-country limits
on immigrants in the EB-5 program,
the Polis-Amodei Bill recognizes the
tremendous popularity of the EB-5
program among Chinese investors.”
In addition to preventing an EB-5 waiting list, the
removal of derivatives from the overall EB-5 visa limit will
increase the market size of the EB-5 industry and create
more U.S. jobs. Each of the 10,000 visas could be used
to their full potential, rather than being counted toward
family members.
“Since the average investor brings a family of 2.5 people
(a spouse and one or two kids), not counting ‘derivatives’
triples the number of investors who can fill the quota in
this category,” immigration attorney and IIUSA Vice
President Robert C. Divine said. “That means three times
more jobs created for American workers. This is a type of
provision that has received bipartisan support for all of the
employment based immigrant categories.”
The text: “Numerical Limitations on Individual
Foreign States”
What it does: This portion of the bill eliminates per-country quotas for EB-5 visas, combating looming retrogression
The text: “Aliens Not Subject to Numerical Limitation”
What it means: Current per-country visa limits prevent
any single country from monopolizing visas. When a country nears the quota, USCIS places a “hold” on review of
petitions from that particular country. This “retrogression”
occurred for the first time in the EB-5 program’s history
with Chinese investors in 2014, as demand for the visa
succeeded the quota. Retrogression is expected to occur
once again in 2015, and slows regional center activity.
Congressman Polis’ bill addresses this problem by eliminating per-country quotas for EB-5 Visas.
What it does: This clause removes “derivatives” from the
visa count, meaning that “aliens who are the spouse or a
child of an investor under the EB-5 program” no longer
count against the overall annual EB-5 visa limit
“By raising the per-country limits on immigrants in the
EB-5 program, the Polis-Amodei Bill recognizes the tremendous popularity of the EB-5 program among Chinese
investors,” Donoso said.
What it means: “Removing derivative family members
from the EB-5 visa cap would be an immediate relief to the
EB-5 program by reducing the potential for an EB-5 visa
waiting list for years to come,” said immigration attorney
Ignacio Donoso.
Immigrants from countries with much fewer EB-5
applicants will still be able to contribute to the program
and the steady Chinese demand would facilitate a “stable
program that can grow predictably without the cloud
of uncertainty of a years-long visa waiting lists suddenly
occurring,” Donoso added.
“Retrogression creates unnecessary delays that affect exit
strategies, job creation, and how you sustain an investment
in a project,” Beshara said. “If you remove derivatives, hopefully you won’t see Chinese retrogression being an issue.”
“Since the average investor brings a
family of 2.5 people (a spouse and one
or two kids), not counting ‘derivatives’
triples the number of investors who
can fill the quota in this category.”
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The Text: “Preventing Fraud in the Regional Center
Program”
What it does: Enhances transparency and accountability
within the EB-5 program by requiring investors to comply
with certain additional enforceable regulations and laws,
including federal securities laws
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