I talked to my regional center and asked them what they are going to do with the $500,000 capital investment if my I-829 is pending while this capital is due and needs to be given back to investors. Based on my knowledge, the $500,000 has to be “at risk” when USCIS is processing my I-829. I asked my regional center whether this money should be re-invested into another project to make sure my I-829 can be approved, and they said the money will be on hold in an account and it would be illegal to re-invest it into another project. According to them, the money would be saved in a certain account and returned to me once my I-829 is approved, and as long as the money has not been returned to investors, it will be considered as at risk. Is that true?
Answers
Julia Roussinova
Find an EB-5 Visa Lawyer: Immigration AttorneyGeneral rule is EB-5 funds must be at-risk up until you file I-829. Many regional centers recommend to keep the funds invested until after I-829 is approved. However, review the terms of your offering documents regarding your exit strategy as an investor.
Charles Foster
Find an EB-5 Visa Lawyer: Immigration AttorneyThe $500,000 has to be "at-risk" throughout the process, including at the time that the I-829 petition is filed to remove conditions. If the funds are simply held in an interest-bearing account, then USCIS could find that the funds are not "at-risk." In fact, it is not illegal to re-invest into another project and there should have been such a provision in your private placement memorandum. If in doubt, you could always get written consent to your funds being reinvested in an appropriate manner that would protect your interests.
Bernard P Wolfsdorf
Find an EB-5 Visa Lawyer: Immigration AttorneyThe money only has to be at-risk up to the filing of the I-829.
A Olusanjo Omoniyi
Find an EB-5 Visa Lawyer: Immigration AttorneyGenerally, the USCIS has affirmed as part of its guidelines that the at-risk requirement applies and remains all the way through the I-829 process.
Salvatore Picataggio
Find an EB-5 Visa Lawyer: Immigration AttorneyI am not sure if it is "illegal" to invest it into another project, but since USCIS announced that redeployment of EB-5 funds would be allowed, they have provided little further guidance on what that can be in the form of. Reinvestment into another project was contemplated, but no one was sure if that had to also meet EB-5 requirements or not. An alternative at-risk investment account was also contemplated by the new policy. Alternatively, some attorneys also consider the filing of the I-829 the end of the at-risk period and allow for repayment! I realize that I haven't given you a real answer here, but a thorough look at the project policies and the USCIS redeployment policies would help here.
Marisa Casablanca
Find an EB-5 Visa Lawyer: Immigration AttorneyAccording to the memorandum published in last year, in order to consider for the investment to be at-risk, it only needs to be invested during the two years of conditional residency. That means that by the time you are filing your I-829 (two years after your CPR), you can have the funds returned to you.
Lynne Feldman
Find an EB-5 Visa Lawyer: Immigration AttorneyNormally funds are not returned to the investor until after the I-829 is approved. Redeployment of the funds in another project is a separate issue.
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