EB-5 Investor Centers Peak in New York, Across the Nation

Just a few years ago, there were only 11 Immigrant Investor Regional Centers in the United States. Today, there are nearly 150. In New York alone, four new centers were approved by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services this year alone. These centers, which enable foreign nationals from areas across the world to obtain green cards through major economic investments, are bringing new life to areas stunted by the economic downturn and are supporting growth in areas already established as economic centers – including New York City itself. There’s the New York City Regional Center, which has raised $60 million for growth projects in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, as well as $65 for a Brooklyn-based film and TV studio. That center is now looking into even larger funded projects, including...

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USCIS Approves Six New EB-5 Regional Centers

USCIS has approved six new EB-5 Regional Centers in California, Georgia, Hawaii and Oregon under the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Pilot Visa Program. These centers will enable immigrants who are investing $500,000 or more the option of obtaining a temporary green card and a path to citizenship. California The California Golden Fund, with a geographic focus of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernadino counties, will focus on the following industries: accommodations; food services; professional, scientific and technical services; manufacturing; retail trade; and construction. The Global Premier America Regional Center LLC, with a geographic focus of Los Angeles, Orange, Kern, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito, Santa Clara, Alameda, Santa Cruz, San Mateo, and...

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Buck Johns Marketing EB-5 Investors Elsewhere

The City Council Tuesday night will continue debating whether to take U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to court, fighting the agency's decision to terminate Victorville's visa investor program and cut off funds the city was counting on to finance its wastewater treatment plant.Meanwhile, Inland Energy President William Buck Johns, hired by the city in 2009 to line up $25 million in loans from aspiring immigrants, has started marketing Victorville's investors to other EB-5 regional centers.“We did meet with Buck (Johns) and there is talk that some of their investors would reapply under our program,” Henry Liebman, founder of EB-5 program American Life Inc. in Washington, said via email Monday.Johns didn’t respond to a request for comment, and Mayor Ryan McEachron said the move was...

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