USCIS EB-5 to move from California to Washington DC

[SOURCE: Suzanne (www.lucidtext.com) 2/3/2013]

USCIS Director Mayorkas sent an email last July announcing that USCIS would create a new office to oversee administration of the EB-5 program, and he discussed the proposal with stakeholders in December. I didn’t comment much at the time because the talk sounded preliminary and I didn’t expect to see action any time soon. But there has been action, as well as more talk, and I’m taking the plan seriously. Here are notes on what I know so far about the proposal. The details come from the 07/18/2012 Public Engagement email, the 12/03/2012 Conversation with the Director, and the 01/15/2013 National Stakeholder Engagement.

• USCIS proposes a “realignment of responsibilities” for administration of the EB-5 Immigrant Investor program to a new EB-5 Program Office to be located in Washington DC.

• Once operational, the office will deal with I-924 applications and I-526 and I-829 petitions. Only the I-485 will be handled elsewhere.

• The agency intends to accomplish the realignment very swiftly, with the goal to have the new EB-5 program office up and running and evaluating cases by June 2013. Applicants and petitioners will continue to work with the California Service Center until the shift occurs.

• The new office will be led by a new Chief of Immigrant Investor Programs. The program chief will have significant experience in the business world and will assume responsibility for ensuring that the program is administered efficiently, with integrity, with predictability, and with an understanding of today’s business realities. The chief of new EB-5 program office will report directly to Deputy Director of the agency. Robert Cox of the USCIS Office of Chief Counsel has been named as acting chief of the immigrant investor program during the bridge period.

• The new EB-5 program office will be staffed with personnel with economic, business, and legal expertise and experience. This includes the adjudicators themselves as well as policy personnel.

• The staff will include dedicated staff drawn from other components within agency, including full-time public engagement resources, legislative affairs resources, and personnel from fraud protection and national security.

• It hasn’t been decided yet whether there will be there be specialized adjudicators, counterparts to “the economist,” the “lawyer,” the “business specialist” and so on. Director Mayorkas likes the idea of a team specializing in project-eligibility and another team specializing in client eligibility. The question is how precisely to divide the specializations, and which areas of the adjudication process would most benefit from dedicated specialists. (The EB-5 team at the CSC currently has over 50 dedicated staff, including 40 service officers and supervisors, eight economists, and two securities attorneys.)

• The new program office will incorporate channels of direct communication with the review board team. Email is expected to be the primary channel. The hope is “to divorce ourselves from the static institutional model of communication” between adjudicators and applicants and to achieve a greater fluidity of communication.

• Director Mayorkas has in mind a goal of reaching 90-120 day processing times, including for I-924 applications.

The Ombudsman’s office is holding an engagement on March 5th that will discuss the “new EB-5 adjudication unit in Washington, D.C.” among other matters. Stakeholders are invited to submit written comments by February 15th.

With comprehensive immigration reform on the table, the EB-5 program may be up for changes even beyond the realignment of responsibilities to Washington DC. See: President Obama Addresses the EB-5 Regional Center Program Legislative Update: Prospects for Immigration, and EB-5 Program, Reform

President Obama’s Statements on EB-5 Could Signal Expansion of Program

[Source: Laura Foote Reiff, Greenberg Traurig, LLP]

During his speech on January 29 in Las Vegas, President Obama announced his principles for Comprehensive Immigration Reform. As part of the president’s plan to overhaul the current broken immigration system, he noted the need to make permanent the EB-5 Regional Center Program that is currently set to expire on September 30, 2015. The program was introduced in 1992 and implemented in 1993. Since that time, it has continually been reauthorized by Congress on a temporary basis.

The president’s objectives related to the program include:

• Expanding opportunities for investor visas and continued U.S. economic development
• Permanently authorizing the EB-5 regional center program
• Providing incentives for visa requestors to invest in programs that support national priorities, including economic development in rural and economically distressed regions
• The introduction of new measures to combat fraud and national security threats within the program
• Data collection on the economic impact of the program nationally and locally
• The creation of a pilot program for state and local government officials to promote economic development.

 

Investing In Citizenship: For The Rich, A Road To The U.S.

The article below provides heart felt stories of real EB-5 immigrant investors and reasons they made the decision to live in the United States. Top reasons for immigrants investing in the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) EB-5 Immigration Program are: Educational Institutions and costs, start their own business, spouse and unmarried children 21 and under receive green cards, and lifestyle change.

[Source: NPR Staff; Published January 26, 2013]

The traditional immigrant story is a familiar one.

Someone who longs for a better life makes the tough journey, leaves behind the hardships of his or her native land and comes to the United States to start again. That story, in a lot of ways, helped build this country.

These days, however, there's a very different kind of immigrant who wants to come to this country — the rich — and they have a different set of dreams.
Anthony Korda was a barrister, or lawyer, in England who vacationed frequently in the U.S. with his family.

"Each time we left the nice weather of Florida, we were more depressed about having to leave," Korda tells NPR's Robert Smith.

Korda says they did not look forward to slogging through the London rain, so he made a lifestyle choice: He was going to immigrate to the U.S. and live in a place where you could get a real tan.

Korda found pretty quickly, though, that the last thing the U.S. needed was more lawyers, so a standard or employment-based visa was unlikely. But then he saw a shortcut to becoming an American in a small, obscure federal program called EB-5, designed for people like him to get into the country — if they had enough money.

"It looked too good to be true," he says.

All Korda had to do was cash out most of his savings — about $500,000 — and invest in an American business. If he could help create 10 jobs, then he would get a green card.

Korda's investment was a ski resort in Vermont that was looking to improve its infrastructure. So he put down his money and got to move to Florida and vacation in Vermont. He and his family got the American dream, but what did America get in return?

Continue reading article here: Investing In Citizenship: For The Rich, A Road To The U.S.

USCIS: Ombudsman EB-5 Stakeholder Meeting March 5, 2013

 The EB-5 Program Immigrant Investor Program

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

1:30 pm to 4:00 pm (Eastern)

Washington, D.C.

Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman Maria Odom will convene an EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program stakeholder meeting in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, March 5, 2013 from 1:30 pm to 4:00 pm (Eastern).
USCIS has been working to reform the EB-5 program and plans to soon establish a new EB-5 adjudication unit in Washington, D.C.  As the Ombudsman’s Office continues to track progress with the EB-5 program, this is an ideal time for stakeholders to discuss ongoing issues with policies, procedures, and other matters.

Opportunity to Submit Written Statements (Optional)
The Ombudsman’s Office encourages stakeholders to provide written statements on issues of concern in advance of the March 5th meeting.  This feedback will assist us in identifying and addressing existing program challenges.  Written statements may be provided independent of registration for the meeting.
Written statements should be limited to 5 pages, and provided to the Ombudsman’s Office by emailing Cisombudsman.PublicAffairs@hq.dhs.gov.  Please reference “EB-5 Statement” in the subject line of the email message.  These statements are due no later than February 15th.  Written submissions will be considered confidential except as subject to applicable law, such as the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Registration
This event will be limited to 100 in-person participants.  Please RSVP by sending one email per participant to Cisombudsman.PublicAffairs@hq.dhs.gov  and reference “EB-5 Meeting” in the subject line. In the body of your email message, please provide the following information:

Name:
Organization:
Contact E-mail:

The Ombudsman’s Office will confirm your registration.  The final list of in-person attendees will close on February 15th.

Sincerely,
Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
cisombudsman.publicaffairs@dhs.gov

Reigniting the Catskill Tourist Industry: EPR Properties and Empire Resorts

Below, Empire Resorts releases great news last week regarding the Concord Casino and Resort development in Sullivan County. The Rock Hill Town Center is less than 4 miles from the future Concord Casino and Resort. The Rock Hill Town Center (Empire State EB-5/Rock Hill Regional Center) is an EB-5 funded development project that will be split up into two phases. Phase I will include the construction of a 90-room hotel, 60,000 sqft. of retail space and residential lots. The economic growth in the Upstate New York is on the rise, so be on the lookout for more updates and news regarding Rock Hill Town Center and community drivers.

[Press Release: Empire Resorts, Inc. – Wed, Jan 16, 2013; SOURCE: Yahoo Finance] 

MONTICELLO, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- 

 

EPR Properties (“EPR”) (EPR), together with Empire Resorts, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Monticello Raceway Management, Inc. (together “Empire”) (NYNY) last night received approval from the Town of Thompson Town Board on the Comprehensive Development Plan (“CDP”), SEQRA findings and the Planned Resort Development Text Amendments (“Amendments”) for the 1,583-acre site of the former Concord Resort (“EPT Concord Resort”). Approval of the CDP and SEQRA findings and the adoption of the Amendments means the joint developments can now move forward with the submission of individual site plan applications, thus initiating the commencement of the build-out of the proposed EPT Concord Resort. 

Continue reading the full article here: EPR Properties and Empire Resorts Receive Approval for Destination Resort Master Plan

Rock Hill Town Center: Bethel Woods Center of Arts: Attracting & Entertaining for all

Bethel Woods Center of Arts is located in the cozy town of Bethel, Sullivan County, New York, has a huge impact on the community regarding attraction and jobs. The Bethel Woods Center of Arts is less than 25 minutes west of the Rock Hill Town Center. The town received worldwide fame after it became the host of the 1969 Woodstock Festival. Bethel Woods opened its doors at the end of 2006 and has already secured its place as a world ranked attraction. Bethel Woods Center of Arts is a cultural center and a top ranked outdoor concert venue. It explores the unique experience of the Woodstock festival, its significance as a culminating event of a decade of radical cultural transformation, and the legacy of the Sixties and Woodstock today. The museum and grounds are amazing things to see and experience. In 2011, Bethel Woods drew more than 185,000 people to its shows, exhibits, and educational programs. A great deal of its success can be attributed to some of the headlining acts that have graced their stage including the New York Philharmonic, Janet Jackson, Elton John, Phish and Kid Rock to name a few. At a cost of over $100 Million, the amphitheater 2011 rank was 15th most attended amphitheater worldwide, up from 38th in 2010. As Bethel Woods continues its rise in the rankings, it will be able sign major headliners on a more frequent basis drawing even more tourists into the community. Below are some of the exciting opportunities and attractions available while at Bethel Woods.

• Main Exhibit Gallery - Permanent interactive multimedia exhibit
• Museum Theater - State-of-the-art, 1080p high-definition video projection, multi-channel sound theater with seating for 132
• Museum Shop - Features museum-themed specialty products
• Muse Café - Delicious light dining and beverages, and you may pre-order a picnic basket 
• Events Gallery - A beautiful wood, glass and stone room that can be used for performances, educational purposes as well as meetings and receptions
• Terrace Stage - A 1,000 seat outdoor theater
• Classrooms - Two classrooms are located on the lower level
• Special Exhibit Gallery - Enjoy a variety of special exhibits throughout the season 

  To learn about the exciting investment opportunity for Rock Hill Town Center:

Tel: (866) 763-6515 

or

  EMAIL HERE 

Rock Hill Town Center: Concord Resort and Casino - A new approach. A new opportunity.

The site sits directly off of Interstate 86 Exit 106 and is less than4 miles from Rock Hill Town Center.  This project is a joint venture of Empire Resorts, Inc., which is controlled by the Genting Group of Malaysia, and Entertainment Property Trust, which is a $2.9 billion real estate investment trust. Genting Group is one of the largest conglomerates in Asia with holdings in excess of $40 billion.  It is also one of the top gaming and casino operators in Asia (Resorts World) and was the original financial backer of Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut.  Together, Empire Resorts and Entertainment Property Trust have already invested in excess of $300,000,000 in Sullivan County, where the Rock Hill Town Center is located.  The Concord Casino and Resort project will create in excess of 2000 immediate construction jobs and over 1500 permanent jobs.

Keep up to date on fresh news and changing developments here -

http://newcatskillsdestination.com/vision.html

 

 

  To learn about the exciting investment opportunity for Rock Hill Town Center:

Tel: (866) 763-6515 

or

  EMAIL HERE