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 a nearly $250 million investment set to help develop a Brooklyn basketball arena.

There’s the New York Immigration Fund, which is currently pulling together investments for two NY hotels. And there are the Federal New York Metropolitan Regional Center, which is supporting the development of a medical center in Flushing, and the Manhattan Regional Center, which is attempting to raise funds to build a 385-room hotel in Manhattan and a major assisted-living establishment in Brooklyn.

These investments are lauded by many in the U.S. because immigrant investor visa-funded projects do not depend upon tax funds to support high growth projects. They, instead, depend upon foreign nationals who are looking for ways to establish permanent residency in the United States.

Foreign investors, who invest at least $500,000 into a project that leads to the establishment of 10 jobs for U.S. workers, are given temporary permanent visas which, if the projects are successful, can lead to permanent resident status and, eventually, citizenship.

Interest in the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa program continues to grow. At the end of July, an investment summit will take place in Boston, Mass., in which representatives from the U.S., China and Korea will discuss ways that investors and other stakeholders can take advantage of this major immigration and investment program. Such conferences and summits are taking place across the nation as more and more regional centers open and seek interested foreign national investors.

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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 San Francisco counties, will focus on the following industries: retail trade; food services; and healthcare and social assistance.

The Inland Empire Renewable Energy Regional Center, LLC, with a geographic focus of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, will focus on the following industries: administrative services; business support services; retail; distribution; education; construction; and engineering and design.

Georgia

The Georgia Regional Center, LLC, with a geographic focus of the metro Atlanta area (including Barrow, DeKalb, Lamar, Bartow, Douglas, Meriwether, Butts, Fayette, Newton, Carroll, Forsyth, Paulding, Cherokee, Fulton, Pickens, Clayton, Gwinnett, Pike, Cobb, Haralson, Rockdale, Coweta, Spalding, Dawson, Henry, Walton and Jasper counties), will focus on the development of student housing projects in greater Atlanta. This regional center has been approved to develop EB-5 investment projects that focus on student housing, real estate construction, education services and food services.

Hawaii

The Hawaiian Islands Regional Center, LLC, with a geographic focus of Hawaii, will focus on nursing care facilities; home health care services; management of companies and enterprises; and construction.

Oregon

The Oregon Regional Center, with a geographic scope of Oregon, will focus on the following industries: manufacturing; retail trade; professional, scientific and technical services; education services; healthcare and social assistance; and accommodations and food services.

The EB-5 Visa is an employment-based immigrant visa, created in the Immigration Act of 1990. Under this visa category, up to 10,000 immigrant visas can be offered each year to qualified individuals seeking to permanently remain in the U.S. based on their investment in a commercial business. In 1993, Congress began the Immigrant Investor Visa Program to better utilize this visa category. Through the creation of Regional Centers, the U.S. government hoped to increase the amount of people that would take advantage of this novel and economically advantageous method to immigrate to the United States, while creating jobs and economic growth for U.S. regions.

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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 news to him.

USCIS approved Victorville's EB-5 regional center in July 2009, allowing the city and its marketing partners such as Inland to solicit foreign citizens willing to loan $500,000 toward qualified projects in exchange for temporary green cards. But Victorville's program became the first in the nation to be terminated in October, with USCIS citing concerns over whether it satisfied the agency’s strict requirement for job creation.

The city had formally accepted 17 loans through the program for a total of $8.5 million, though Economic Development Director Keith Metzler said only $7.5 million was transferred to Victorville before the termination. The other $1 million stayed in an escrow account managed by Johns, Metzler said.

Read More: Buck Johns marketing EB-5 investors elsewhere

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