The EB-5 Investment Committee of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) sent a letter to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) this week requesting clarification on the implementation of the interim order issued by the federal court on June 24, 2022 in the case of Behring Regional Center v. Mayorkas. What policy changes will a ban cause?
raised a number of important issues that need to be resolved on behalf of the industry, such as how the USCIS will implement the temporary injunction, when it plans to update website information, and how it will accept and adjudicate EB-5-related applications.
AILA EB-5 Investment Committee Questions for USCIS:
1. When does USCIS plan to update its website to reflect the implementation of the temporary ban?
2. Section 203(b)(5)(F)(ii) of the new rule states that "approvals granted to an applicant under this provision, including approvals granted before the enactment of these provisions, shall be binding." Do I need to submit an I-956F application for a “model” that was approved before the Reform and Integrity Act (RIA) was enacted?
3. Will the USCIS immediately accept the I-956F application?
4. Section 103(b)(1) of the Reform and Integrity Act (RIA), which adds section 203(b)(5)(E)(ii)(III) to the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), is as follows Provides: "(III) With respect to records previously submitted to the Secretary pursuant to subsection (F), if the alien applicant demonstrates that such records formed part of the application by reference to them, the Board shall consider that the records were The [I-526 petition] contains such records. "The instructions for completing the Form I-526 petition include a detailed list of the evidence required to be submitted with the petition that is required by subsection (F) to be included in the regional center business plan. The evidence is entirely consistent and therefore redundant. For example, the list lists evidence of job creation, while subsection (F) requires the submission of a comprehensive business plan and economic analysis to demonstrate job creation.
Please confirm: As long as the investor demonstrates that it has previously submitted records to the Secretary pursuant to subsection (F), the application will be deemed to include the evidence enumerated in the I-526 petition. Otherwise, the I-526 application will still need to include all documents in the I-956F, which is contrary to the original intention of the aforementioned investor certification. It is understood that the records submitted pursuant to Section (F) do not contain legal proof of investors’ investment funds, and therefore investors must continue to provide legal proof of the source of funds.
5. Please describe what evidence is needed to demonstrate that the regional center has met the requirements of the new U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) section 203(b)(5)(F)(i), i.e., “when an alien applicant submits Prior to an application for this visa category,” the “regional center shall submit an application pursuant to subsection (F).” Stakeholders are concerned about the USCIS’s delay in issuing acknowledgment receipts for Form I-956F. Does the USCIS allow investors to submit an application with proof of submission of Form I-956F, or does the investor need to submit a formal receipt of Form I-956F? If investors need to submit a formal I-956F application form acknowledgment, please confirm that the USCIS will issue the I-956F application form acknowledgment in time.
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