I will be giving a talk at the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) EB-5 Conference on Friday, August 27, 2010, in Boston; a comprehensive one-day training on EB-5 investor law. I will also be speaking at the AILA Conference on September 23, 2010, in Texas on practice tips and documentation of EB-5 petitions.
Regional Center – Principal Place of Doing Business
Regional Centers can offer at least two kinds of commercial enterprises: those that are themselves the job creating entities, and those that channel capital to job-creating entities. In the latter situation, the commercial enterprise is merely a vehicle for investment in a company that creates jobs. The vehicle for investment is the “commercial enterprise” and the company that creates jobs is the “capital investment project.”
I mentioned in an earlier post that the USCIS had stated at a stakeholder’s meeting that commercial enterprises and their investment projects must be located in a Targeted Employment Area (TEA) in order to meet the $500,000 investment requirement. The USCIS clarified that where the commercial enterprise is legally domiciled is not relevant. The relevant fact is whether the commercial enterprise is “principally doing business” in a targeted area. The USCIS has used this language elsewhere as well, and it is supported by the regulations at 8 C.F.R. 204.6.
In the above scenario where a regional center’s commercial enterprise merely funds a capital investment project, the job creating entity (in this case the capital investment project) must be located within the TEA. I believe job creation should be at the heart of this analysis. The EB-5 visa is intended to create jobs. TEAs are the areas in particular need of jobs. Therefore, less capital is required to coax investors to capitalize companies that would crate jobs in those areas that particularly need it.
No comments:
Post a Comment