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- Q: I understand that EB-5 has been the subject of litigation. Will this history effect my green card applications?
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It should help, since CIS removed conditions from all pre-1998, American Life investors in June, 2006. This sets a precedent for programs such as American Life Inc., which are full $500,000 investments that create employment in the US.
The history is outlined as follows:
The EB-5 visa category started in 1991. Regional Centers started in 1993. American Life Inc. formed its regional center in 1996 and raised capital from some 40 investors between 1996 and 1998. Several companies competed for investment capital during this period. Most of the companies didn't offer sound investments and were really in business to collect fees rather than to fund an ongoing business. Many investment opportunities didn't raise the full $500,000 investment capital or hire the required number of employees.
CIS (formerly INS) rightly wanted to stop these abuses of the program. In 1998, CIS wrongly applied their revised rules retroactively to people who already had approved petitions. CIS attempted to revoke these visa petitions. This started the litigation.
In 2002, Congress passed a new law to protect the pre-1998 investors. Also, in 2002, in a case commonly known as "Chang" the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that CIS may not apply their new rules retroactively. In August of 2003, CIS began approving regional center petitions for the first time since 1998.
In September 2005 and May 2006, BCIS approved all American Life pre-1998 removal-of-condition (I-829) petitions. As a result American Life Inc. dropped its lawsuit against the Justice Department. We were able to settle with CIS because all of our investors invested $500,000 in job creating investments. It took 8 years to work through the system and prove the point. During the interim all of the investors were allowed to live in the US as if they had permanent green cards. Other than the delay and the legal expenses, which were paid out of investment income, there was no serious inconvenience to the investors.
We believe that EB-5 immigration petitions based on sound investments, for the full $500,000 as prescribed by the rules, with proper supporting documentation, will continue to be approved.
