News
USCIS/SEC Stakeholder Call
USCIS/SEC Stakeholder Call On April 3, 2013, USCIS held an EB-5 stakeholder call about securities law issues. The discussion covered registration requirements for securities, broker-dealers, investment advisors, pooled investments, and the exemptions and exclusions to each of these registration requirements. It also covered fraud, for which there are no exemptions. The following...
The EB-5 News Continues at an Even Faster Pace
China EB-5 quotas In its March visa bulletin, the Department of State (DOS) has revised a previous estimate that China would exhaust its quota and create a backlog in 2013. Here is what the DOS now says: Currently there is no reason to believe that it will be necessary to establish a...
USCIS Ombudsman
On March 5, 2013, I attended the Department of Homeland Security USCIS Ombudsman* EB-5 Stakeholders meeting in Washington, D.C. Interestingly, this meeting was not publicized by USCIS. Ombudsman Maria Odom expressed interest in the EB-5 program. Also at the meeting were other members of her staff who have been very interested...
The SEC has filed charges against and has frozen the assets of the Intercontinental Regional Center Trust of Chicago, LLC (“IRCTC”). The Chicago Tribune ran a long story on this matter. There has been, and will be, more press coverage about this case in the U.S. and China. IRCTC raised more than...
EB-5 News
Canadian competition again? There is a rumor that Canada may again open its popular investor immigration program, creating competition with the U.S. EB-5 program. There was a backlog of about 26,000 applicants for the Canadian program when it was closed in the middle of last year. The Quebec program may open...