USCIS Gets an EB-5 Earful at Immigration Listening Session: Angelo A. Paparelli

"On April 23, 2014, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) -- the component of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that administers the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program -- held an important "Listening Session" with the stakeholder community.  

EB-5 Program Chief, Nicholas Colucci, flanked by representatives of the Offices of Policy, Chief Counsel and Public Engagement, and by Dr. Winslow Sargent, Chief Counsel to the SBA's Office of Advocacy, explained that the session is a prelude to the promulgation of new EB-5 regulations. These new rules, he noted, would enhance program predictability and consistency by better defining substantive eligibility requirements and establishing consistent filing requirements.  He added that the new regulations are but one step in transforming the EB-5 program, noting that the agency concurred in the December 2013 recommendations of the DHS Office of Inspector General that USCIS take additional measures, which he did not describe, to address EB-5 fraud and national security concerns.

The Listening Session -- which Mr. Colucci noted was held in deference to Executive Order 13563 ("Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review")  -- covered a wide array of suggestions including proposals for new legal rights and interpretations, greater access to accurate program data and improvements in investor protection, the impact of immigrant visa quota backlogs and the need for greater speed and predictability of adjudications." - Angelo A. Paparelli, Apr. 27, 2014.