How do EB-5 investors prepare for consular post interview?

The consular interview is designed to determine whether or not you are admissible to the United States. The appointment letter outlines the required documentation such as original birth certificates and marriage or divorce certificate. It is a good idea to have some knowledge of your project; but your derivatives do not need that knowledge for the interview.

Your attorney should prepare you for the interview. In general, the consular officer is trying to determine if you are admissible to the United States; he or she is NOT trying to re-adjudicate the I-526 petition. You should know the name of the regional center, the name of the new commercial enterprise (project name), where it is located and how much money you invested. If you reviewed the business plan or had it explained to you in general terms, you should be fine. The documents needed for the interview are listed on the NVC letter or on the interview notice itself.

Your immigration attorney should prepare you for your immigrant visa interview at the U.S. consular post.

First and foremost in order to prepare for your consular interview in Guangzhou you should consult with your attorney, assuming that you had legal representation, which the vast majority of EB-5 investors have and follow that his or her advice. Generally speaking, it is a good idea to review your immigrant visa application as well as your I-526 petition that was filed on your behalf. You do not have to be an expert on Regional Center project and all of the details. Remember, your EB-5 Investor Petition on Form I-526 has already been approved. Nevertheless, it would be very advisable for you to have a general understanding of the project in which you invested your funds in terms of the nature of the project, the fact that you will be required after 2 years to file an Application to Remove Conditions on Form I-829, your obligation at that time to show that the funds actually were invested in the project and that the jobs were created directly or indirectly all as provided in the I-526 petition as well as the Private Placement Memorandum. You will be advised as to what documents you should take, but clearly you would have to take your original birth certificate, marriage certificate and the other documents requested. In terms of your dependents, there would be no particular requirement that they would have to be well informed on the nature of the EB-5 investment project.

It is very important that you prepare, know and be ready to answer questions relating to the regional center and the project you invested before and at the time of your interview. Also, it is important that both the main applicant and accompanying dependents know the details of the EB-5 investment, the project and basic information in your I-526 petition. As to the documents that need to be taken to the interview, consider this basic list: the filed I-526 petition and its accompanying documents (in essence, the complete I-526 that was filed), additional identification documents besides the passport, any other documents that the notice might have specified you should bring with you to the interview, etc. Finally, work with your EB-5 attorney for better preparation and other issues related to the interview.

You should prepare for the interview by reviewing the I-526 Petition packet that was submitted, and familiarize yourself with the structure of the project and your investment as well as how the jobs will be created, etc. You can bring a copy of this with you to the interview and refer to them during the interview.

Your EB-5 Immigration attorney will prepare an executive summary of the project to review with you. The type of project and when you made the investment should be known. A document proving the deposit of your personal funds into the project will be required. A Skype or phone call with the Immigration attorney preparing you and your family for the U.S. Consul interview will be helpful.

The attorney who filed your I-526 and DS-260 should prepare you for the interview.

You will have your original civil documents, medical exam results (unless sent directly to the US embassy by the clinic) and project documentation. Most regional center projects prepare a packet of summary documents about your investment and the project for the US consular officer. If you had an attorney prepare your consular processing case, he or she likely submitted all of that documentation to NVC for your case. He or she should also prepare you for the immigrant visa interview and what to expect.

I have never heard of them asking project details but you should have a basic idea of the project and what type of project is being built.

The interview questions are different with every consular officer. In general, they are going to focus on your source of funds rather than the EB5 project, but they could ask about the EB-5 project too. In my experience, investors are not really knowledgeable about the specifics of the EB-5 project, and they still get approved at their interviews. The law firm that filed your I-526 should be able to guide you better on this topic, since they are the ones familiar with your case.

Each consulate post requires different documents for the interview with regards to the investment and your petition. Some posts demand to see the entire I-526 package, which is arduous as they are several thousands of pages. Most posts will need to see the I-526 approval notice and the petition itself. You should know general information about the project about what kind of project it is, where it is located, how much you invested, etc. and the regional center information. All of this information is in the cover letter transmitting the I-526 petition package to USCIS and the legal memorandum your lawyer prepared to detail all the elements that must be proved for I-526, such as your eligibility as an investor and why the I-526 was approvable when filed. Of course, as for all immigrant visa applications, you need to bring the medical report, police clearance and all the civil documents for you and your family. Your derivative family members do not need to know anything about the investment or how you made the investment and the consulate officer should not be asking them these questions. They only need to demonstrate that they are your family.