According to a recent announcement, current American Administration plans to create a Gold Card program (green card for wealthy individuals interested in becoming US residents and US citizens).

As was announced, this new type of residency would provide a pathway to U.S. citizenship through the investment of US$5 million.

At this time, there are specific details and requirements for this new program. The Administration has indicated that the Gold Card would be adjudicated in expedited manner (contrary to the existing EB-5 immigrant investor program), and will not have an annual quota (contrary to the EB-5 program which is limited to 10,000 per year).

As was said, the revenue from this new immigration program could be used to help reduce the national debt (contrary to the EB-5 program which is focused on the job-creation for American citizens).

Another difference is that the EB-5 program provides for "conditional" Green Card valid for two years only, after which an investor and his family must engage in another lengthy process of "removing the conditions" and getting a permanent Green Cards for ten years.

The administration’s current plan is to have the Gold Card visa replace the EB-5 immigrant investor visa, which has been the only investment-based green card option since 1990s.

The currently existing EB-5 program requires an investment of $800,000 or $1,050,000 in a U.S. business, the creation of 10 jobs for U.S. workers, and local economic growth. The process involves proving a lawful source of investment funds and a suite of other investment requirements to be approved for and maintain their permanent residence status.
The EB-5 program was initially created in 1990 by Congress and went through a legislative overhaul with the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act (RIA). The RIA tightened the program’s regulatory, compliance, and oversight components to enhance investor protections. It also reauthorized the regional center program through September 30, 2027. Eliminating the program early would require Congressional approval.
In alternative, the proposed Gold Card and the EB-5 visa programs could co-exist as two separate programs, each striving for different investor demographics and economic goals.

​It was suggested, the Gold Card, with a higher price tag and expedited process (and different tax benefits), would attract wealthy individuals and provide significant funds directly to the U.S. government. EB-5 visa, on the other hand, involves a lower investment amount and a slower process, but is more accessible to a larger pool of potential investors and provides economic benefits directly to American workers and local economies.

In Russian:

Недавно объявленный план Белого Дома заключается в том, чтобы виза Gold Card заменила иммиграционную инвесторскую визу EB-5, которая была единственным вариантом получения грин-карты на основе инвестиций с 1990-х годов.

Действующая в настоящее время программа EB-5 требует инвестиций в размере US$800 000 или US$1 050 000 долларов в американский бизнес, создания 10 рабочих мест для граждан США и экономического роста и т.п. Процесс включает в себя подтверждение законного источника инвестиционных средств и ряд других инвестиционных требований для одобрения и сохранения статуса постоянного резидента.

Программа EB-5 была первоначально создана в 1990 году Конгрессом и прошла законодательную реформу с принятием Закона о реформе и добросовестности EB-5 (RIA). RIA ужесточила нормативные, контрольные и надзорные компоненты программы для усиления защиты инвесторов. Она также повторно разрешила программу региональных центров до 30 сентября 2027 года. Для досрочной отмены программы потребуется одобрение Конгресса.

В качестве альтернативы предлагаемые программы Gold Card и визы EB-5 могли бы сосуществовать как две отдельные программы, каждая из которых интересна разным группам инвесторов.

Предполагается, что Gold Card с более высокой ценой инвестиций (или "покупки" вида на жительство) и ускоренным процессом привлечет состоятельных людей, которые заинтересованы в получении вида на жительство и гражданство США (с особым режимом налогообложения, что также важно). Виза EB-5, с другой стороны, предполагает меньшую сумму инвестиций и более медленный процесс, и не дает никаких бенефитов в смысле налогообложения, но она более доступна для большего числа потенциальных инвесторов и обеспечивает экономические выгоды напрямую американским работникам и местной экономике.

Мы будем публиковать новости на эту тему в нашем блоге и на ютуб канале. 

​https://www.youtube.com/@lubasmalimmigrationlawyer

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On July 24, 2019, new EB-5 Immigrant Investor regulations were published in Federal Register.

The final rule will become effective on November, 21, 2019.
​
Major changes to EB-5 in the final rule include:

Raising minimum investment amounts: the standard minimum investment level will increase from $1 million to $1.8 million, the first increase since 1990, to account for inflation.
The rule also keeps the 50% minimum investment differential between a TEA and a non-TEA, thereby increasing the minimum investment amount in a TEA from $500,000 to $900,000. The final rule also provides that the minimum investment amounts will automatically adjust for inflation every five years. 
The final rule outlines changes to the EB-5 program to address gerrymandering of high-unemployment areas (which means deliberately manipulating the boundaries of an electoral constituency). As of the effective date of the final rule, DHS will eliminate a state’s ability to designate certain geographic and political subdivisions as high-unemployment areas; instead, DHS would make such designations directly based on revised requirements in the regulation limiting the composition of census tract-based TEAs. These revisions will help ensure TEA designations are done fairly and consistently, and more closely adhere to congressional intent to direct investment to areas most in need. 
Clarifying USCIS procedures for removing conditions on permanent residence: The rule revises regulations to make clear that certain derivative family members who are lawful permanent residents must independently file to remove conditions on their permanent residence. The requirement would not apply to those family members who were included in a principal investor’s petition to remove conditions. The rule improves the adjudication process for removing conditions by providing flexibility in interview locations and to adopt the current USCIS process for issuing Green Cards.
Allowing EB-5 petitioners to keep their priority date: The final rule also offers greater flexibility to immigrant investors who have a previously approved EB-5 immigrant petition. When they need to file a new EB-5 petition, they generally now will be able to retain the priority date of the previously approved petition, subject to certain exceptions.
Once an investor has obtained an immigrant visa through an I-526 petition and become a conditional resident, he or she can no longer use the priority date of that I-526 petition if he or she files a new I-526 petition. The regulations only offer protection to investors whose I-526 petitions have been approved, and who have not yet obtained conditional residence.
The regulations will be in effect and apply to all I-526 petitions filed on or after November 21, 2019. Any petition filed before that date will be subject to the current rules.

​Read more here.

On Nov. 30, 2018, in Zhang v. USCIS, No. 15-cv-995, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia certified a class that includes any individual with a Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur, that was or will be denied on the sole basis of investing loan proceeds that were not secured by the individual’s own assets. 

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia vacated these denials and ordered USCIS to reconsider the petitions.

If you believe you have received an I-526 denial solely on this ground and would like to identify yourself as a potential class member, USCIS had provided a contact email [email protected], and advised to contact them using the subject line “Zhang Class,” and provide the following:

1. Name
2. Alien Number (if any)
3. Date of birth
4. I-526 receipt number (if available)
5. Date of I-526 denial
6. Copy of I-526 denial (if available)

On April 14, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced fraud charges and an asset freeze against a Vermont-based ski resort and related businesses allegedly misusing millions of dollars raised through investments solicited under the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program.

The SEC’s case was unsealed today in federal court in Miami, and the court has appointed a receiver over the companies to prevent any further spending of investor assets.

The SEC alleges that Ariel Quiros of Miami, William Stenger of Newport, Vt., and their companies made false statements and omitted key information while raising more than $350 million from investors to construct ski resort facilities and a biomedical research facility in Vermont. Investors were told they were investing in one of several projects connected to Jay Peak Inc., a ski resort operated by Quiros and Stenger, and their money would only be used to finance that specific project. 

Instead, in Ponzi-like fashion, money from investors in later projects was misappropriated to fund deficits in earlier projects. 

More than $200 million was allegedly used for other-than-stated purposes, including $50 million spent on Quiros’s personal expenses and in other ways never disclosed to investors.

According to the SEC’s complaint, Quiros improperly tapped investor funds for such things as the purchase of a luxury condominium, payment of his income taxes and other taxes unrelated to the investments, and acquisition of an unrelated ski resort.

“The alleged fraud ran the gamut from false statements to deceptive financial transactions to outright theft,” said Andrew Ceresney, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “As alleged in our complaint, the defendants diverted millions of EB-5 investor dollars to their own pockets, leaving little money for construction of the research facility investors were told would be built and thereby putting the investors’ funds and their immigration petitions in jeopardy.”

The SEC’s complaint charges Quiros, Stenger, Jay Peak, and a company owned by Quiros called Q Resorts Inc. as well as seven limited partnerships and their general partner companies with violating the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5. Four other companies are named as relief defendants in the SEC’s complaint for the purpose of recovering investor funds transferred into their accounts. The SEC seeks preliminary and permanent injunctions, financial penalties, and disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus interest. The agency also seeks conduct-based injunctive relief against Quiros and Stenger along with an officer-and-director bar against Quiros.

Read more here.

China EB-5 Visa Category To Retrogress by June 2015, and a Two-Year Backlog Expected.

The U.S. Department of State's Visa Bulletin for April 2015 explains that continued demand for EB-5 green cards by immigrant investors from China will require a retrogression for the China EB-5 visa category by June 2015 to hold number use within the annual numerical limit. 

It's also expected that the retrogression will be about two years (a two-year backlog).

The bulletin is available at US Dept of State website here.