Former Director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services EB-5 Program, Maurice Berez, has addressed the concerns of EB-5 investors and cited specific provisions from U.S. immigration regulations to clarify misleading statements.
Question: Is it true that only the jobs created by the funds invested by EB-5 investors can be used to demonstrate employment issues to the immigration authorities?
Answer: (1) The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services EB-5 policy under 8 CFR 204.6(g)(2) clearly states that the total number of jobs created for the purpose of employment, from capital raised through EB-5 combined with/or mixed with non-EB-5 capital, should be fully allocated to EB-5 investors after the joint investment in the project.
(2) Allocation of created jobs. All full-time jobs created that meet the criteria should only be allocated to those foreign entrepreneurs who have relied on the operation of this business plan as the basis for their I-526 application at the time of submission. Whether domestic or foreign, institutions or individuals (referring to those individuals who do not need to obtain an immigration visa (regulation 203(b)(5)), do not need to participate in the allocation of created jobs. The immigration authorities should recognize any agreements made by foreign entrepreneurs regarding the reasonable allocation of standard-compliant jobs created by those projects.
Question: Is it true that indirect jobs calculated through the economic model RIMS II are not recognized by the immigration authorities and do not meet the definition of creating full-time positions required by the immigration authorities?
Answer: The supplementary explanation dated December 11, 2009, in the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services adjudicator's manual, section 3, states that using economic input-output models (I/O models) such as RIMS II or IMPLAN to assess and calculate the indirect jobs (including induced jobs) generated by a business plan under a regional center cannot distinguish between full-time or part-time. In other words, the number of jobs derived from economic models cannot be differentiated as full-time or part-time; therefore, any indirect jobs calculated according to the economic model will be considered full-time positions and meet EB-5 requirements.
Question: Can the indirect jobs calculated by the project successfully pass the immigration authorities' approval of the I-526, but the project may not generate enough indirect job opportunities within two years, and at that time, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services may overturn the recognized indirect jobs in the I-526, thus requiring the project to provide proof of direct job numbers, which will lead to the rejection of the investor's I-829 application?
Answer: The memorandum in the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services adjudicator's manual dated December 11, 2009, clearly states that the policy of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is not to re-evaluate the facts listed in the approved I-526 and particularly respects the economic input-output models used for calculating indirect jobs proposed by the approved regional center.
Question:Is it true that the indirect jobs calculated using the RIMS II model employed by the project cannot be realized within two years?
Answer: The memorandum on page 4 of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services adjudicator's manual states: RIMS II, like all I-O (input-output) models, is a "constant equilibrium" model, meaning that all results calculated using RIMS II will not have specific time constraints. Of course, since the model is based on annual data, it is conventionally assumed that the calculated results will be realized within a year. This assumption is reasonable in most cases.
