IIUSA is the official trade association of the EB-5 industry in the United States. The IIUSA annual international forum aims to be “THE event” of the year for the EB-5 investment industry. In addition to EB-5 Regional Centers, there will be foreign migration brokers, attorneys, consultants, service providers and banking institutions attending this event.

To obtain more information about this event, please visit: http://iiusaseattle811.eventbrite.com/.

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Dear Stakeholder -

As many of you know, we at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) are reviewing our policies and practices to ensure our careful and thoughtful administration of our nation’s immigration laws. A hallmark of our review is our engagement with you; your ideas and comments inform our decisions as we strive to implement the best ideas.

Through our review, your input, and other analysis, we have identified needed improvements to a wide array of policies and practices. Some of these improvements have been implemented and many are to follow. We look forward to your feedback as we make continued progress on these improvements.

As part of our broad review, and echoing President Obama’s call to promote immigrants’ entrepreneurial spirit, we have focused on the Immigrant Investor Program, commonly referred to as the EB-5 Program. It is a program designed to attract investors and entrepreneurs from around the world to create jobs in America. In the two decades since its creation, the EB-5 Program has never met the annual cap of 10,000 visas.

The EB-5 Program often involves complex applications and sophisticated business projects that require prompt attention and expert review in order to achieve their potential. Our focus on this program, and the input you have provided, has led us to propose a series of significant improvements to it. These changes include an accelerated adjudications process, with premium processing; the creation of specialized intake teams to handle the Form I-924 applications, coupled with the applicants’ ability to communicate directly with the specialized intake teams via email; and, the creation of an expert Decision Board to render decisions on the applications and to afford applicants with an in-person or telephonic interview to resolve issues.

In keeping with our commitment to soliciting your ideas and input, we have posted the proposal for public comment on the Operational Proposals for Comment page. We will accept your comments at opefeedback@uscis.dhs.gov for 20 business days, until June 17, 2011.

We recognize the importance of the EB-5 Program and its goal of creating jobs. We recognize the importance of all of our policies and practices in realizing the goals of our nation’s immigration system. Thank you for working with us in service of those goals.

Alejandro N. Mayorkas

Director

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To access the USCIS official proposal comment information page, please click HERE.

Please feel free to contact Invest US Regional Center for any questions at info@investuseb5.com

CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION ABOUT JOINING IIUSA.

The Association to Invest In the USA (IIUSA) is a 501(c)(6) not-for-profit industry trade association of active EB-5 Regional Centers (“Regional Centers”), attorneys, and other EB-5 related service providers. Regional Centers are private corporations and governmental agencies designated by the U.S. government to allow foreign investors to invest capital in their local economies with the goals of preserving and creating U.S. jobs through economic development.

Foreign investors are attracted to participate in Regional Center investment programs for the benefits of an economic return and the prospect of qualifying for a permanent residency visa (green card) pursuant to the EB-5 Regional Center Investment Program (“the Program”), which is due to sunset on September 30, 2012. Regional Centers have invested over $2.0 billion of foreign capital, creating over 50,000 jobs and reducing the U.S. foreign trade imbalance.

IIUSA represents active Regional Centers all across the United States with targeted investment programs distinct to each Regional Center’s economic focus.  Foreign investors assume the investment risk of the targeted investment of the Regional Center. The minimum investment per investor is $1 million except in rural areas and areas of high unemployment, where it is $500,000. The invested funds must create or save at least 10 jobs for U.S. workers for every $500,000 or $1 million investment. The typical term of investment is 5 years.

A typical foreign investor in a Regional Center investment program is highly educated, a successful business executive or entrepreneur, an accredited investor by the standards of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and a head of household with a global perspective.

Foreign investors’ motivations to invest through a Regional Center include:

• Conduct and/or expand their business in the United States
• Educate themselves or their children
• Diversify their investment portfolios
• Manage their investments in the Regional Center
• Reside in the United States and become U.S. citizens

The Regional Center investment program is growing rapidly. When fully utilized it will contribute between $1.5-3.0 billion in foreign capital to the U.S. economy each year. Such investment also leverages significant additional domestic capital. Of equal significance, a fully functioning Regional Center program will create or preserve more than 30,000 jobs for U.S. workers each year.

IIUSA has several missions:

• Stimulate economic development and job growth in the United States, while aiding to reduce foreign trade imbalances.
• Further immigration to the United States by qualified, educated, highly skilled and investment-oriented foreign nationals.
• Educate the public and government about the benefits derived by the Regional Centers through the EB-5 investment program.
• Help Regional Centers address administrative, regulatory and legislative issues.
• Advance and maintain Regional Center industry standards and best practices.
• Be a strong, unified voice for permanent authorization and improvement of the EB-5 Regional Center Program to enhance Regional Center activities.