Me and my family are undergoing severe distress over the halt in the processing of I-485. Due to Covid, my business in our home country lost most of our revenue and I am left in a critical financial situation. My I-526 was approved but I have not yet received my combo card, so I cannot work in US. My investment in the regional center is at stake but I do not get any immigration benefit yet. My combo card application has been pending for 13 months now, and with the lapse there has been no movement in I-485.
The lapse in RC is not my fault, nor is it the fault of investors. I want my investment back as I am not getting a fair deal.
I asked my regional center to get into an agreement to refund my money, but they did not agree and were very aggressive. Me and my family are the ones who are suffering.
There has to be a legal way. The halt in RC is due to regional centers. Congress did try hard to get the program re-authorized in June 2021 but I think the industry intentionally blocked it. There has to be a way through justice to get a fair deal. The offering document says that RC program may lapse or be eliminated, but what if the lapse is “intentional”? The more time the program stays lapsed, the more money regional centers make on interest, at the expense of investors.
How can I pursue a federal litigation? I want to really pursue the legal channel against regional centers and bring justice and accountability.
Answers
Lynne Feldman
Find an EB-5 Visa Lawyer: Immigration AttorneySeek Federal counsel to look at whether a suit has any merit.
Robert V Cornish Jr
Securities AttorneysAs a matter of course, you cannot and you should not unless you are properly funded in the hundreds of thousands of dollars for extended litigation of high intensity with the federal government. The government generally has immunity for torts, and even if you feel like you have been damaged, you have to follow the procedures to file a case for money damages through what is called a Form 95 with USCIS and then wait 2 years for the government to either admit fault or deny your claim. Only when your claim is denied may you seek money damages in court. And in that instance, you would need to bring your cases in the U.S. Court of Claims, which is decidedly not friendly to plaintiffs who sue the U.S. Government. Those in the EB-5 industry are equally affected as to the lapse as you are, and are more well-funded to pursue such litigation. If you pursue it and lose, you ruin chances of success for everyone, meaning every Regional Center and EB-5 investor who may have been harmed. Let those who are well-funded and ready to stick it out in protracted litigation deal with the issue.
Bernard P Wolfsdorf
Find an EB-5 Visa Lawyer: Immigration AttorneyIt is hard to see how regional centers benefit from the lapse. The new development that makes me optimistic is the report coming out of the office of Senator Grassley. While there is no sense of urgency in Congress for authorization (they do not seem to care about the 40,000+ people who invested their hard-earned money into U.S. job creation), I do think that Grassley''s office will move on the issue in the "first half of 2022." I am an optimist and believe we will see reauthorization soon, but sadly we have a delay. I do not see how litigation regarding the failure of Congress to act constitutes a legal cause of action. You cannot sue the U.S. Congress or U.S. government on this - there is no right to require Congress to pass a law. I believe some have already filed and their case has been dismissed.
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