The new Form I-956 and I-956 H contain a series of certifications and detailed personal information requirements with respect to the integrity and backgrounds of the owners, operators, and officers of the Regional Centers administering investments. These certifications will be reviewed by USCIS and require Regional Center applicants to appear for biometrics. The biometrics will be used by the USCIS along with other government agencies to conduct extensive background and criminal record checks on each person involved in the ownership and/or day-to-day operations of the Regional Center. Likewise, the Regional Center and related entities will need to provide information on their standard operating procedures, protocols for ensuring securities law compliance, and their internal monitoring of the disbursement and use of investor funds, among other things. The incorporation of the integrity measures is meant to discourage and prevent fraud in the EB-5 Regional Center program and boost investor confidence in the Program. The certifications will need to be made on an annual basis, and compliance with all EB-5 provisions will likewise need be monitored through USCIS audits to be conducted at least once every five years and site visits to be likewise be conducted for every project raise that the Regional Center administers by USCIS.

While these measures benefit investors, they do come at a cost to many Regional Centers that will need to pay much more for maintaining compliance with the new requirements. This may result in fewer projects on the market for investors to choose from. For example, as of May 18, 2022, USCIS indicated it had only received 8 I-956 applications for Regional Center designation. It is unclear how long the adjudication process for the new forms will take. Prior to the expiration of the Regional Center Pilot Program, new EB-5 Regional Center designation applications were taking over two years to be adjudicated. USCIS has interpreted the requirements under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 to require that all previous Regional Center designations are null and void and anyone wishing to participate in the Program on a go-forward basis will be required to file the Form I-956. Only once that Form I-956 is approved will the Regional Center be able to move on to the second step of the process, which is to file a Project Exemplar filing requesting project pre-approval from USCIS; this will also include if applicable a Targeted Employment Area (TEA) designation request. Investors can only file their applications after the exemplar is submitted (not approved under the USCIS interpretation).

All of this makes the timeline for submission of I-526 Regional-Center-based investor petitions unclear, and no information has been forthcoming from the Agency as of this writing.

Tags: Form I-956, regional center investment, Securities Law, Targeted Employment Area, TEA, USCIS, uscis forms
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Photo of Kate Kalmykov Kate Kalmykov

Kate Kalmykov is based in our New York and New Jersey offices and has over two decades of experience in business immigration matters. Kate currently Co-Chairs the Global Immigration & Compliance Practice at Greenberg Traurig. In this role, she works with employers of

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Kate Kalmykov is based in our New York and New Jersey offices and has over two decades of experience in business immigration matters. Kate currently Co-Chairs the Global Immigration & Compliance Practice at Greenberg Traurig. In this role, she works with employers of all sizes across a variety of industries in understanding and complying with the immigration laws relating to the hiring and retention of foreign talent. Specifically, her practice focuses on supporting clients and advising them on temporary and permanent residency immigration options for multi-national executive, business, scientific, and information technology personnel. In addition, her practice provides support to companies in the global transfer of personnel. Known by her clients for her out-of-the-box thinking, responsiveness and hands-on approach, Kate is often called upon to assist in developing immigration options and strategies in the most unique circumstances and to respond to complex Requests for Evidence (RFEs), Notices of Intent to Deny (NOIDs) or to appeal denied cases. Likewise, she has also been instrumental in developing employer compliance programs for DOL related filings including H-1Bs and PERMs, as well as for I-9 employment eligibility verification. To this end, she develops and conducts nationwide I-9 compliance trainings and policy manuals for human resources personnel, advises on best practices for E-Verify employers, provides guidance on avoiding immigration-related unfair employment practices claims and has defended and minimized penalties in immigration-related government audits. Kate regularly works with professionals from the firm’s labor, employment, tax and benefits groups, to provide strategic planning on immigration issues within a cross-border framework.

Kate also has deep experience working on all aspects of the EB-5 immigrant investor program. Kate has worked with real estate developers, private equity funds, and other organizations on applications to designate new EB-5 Regional Centers, applications for pre-approval of EB-5 projects; having projects adopted by existing EB-5 Regional Centers; structuring projects to be EB-5 compliant, the sale of existing EB-5 Regional Centers, preparing template I-526 petitions and advice on structuring direct EB-5 projects. Pursuant to the requirements introduced under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act, Kate works with EB-5 Regional Centers, EB-5 Projects, Overseas Migration Agents and Broker/ Dealers to develop internal programs for ongoing compliance and to prepare USCIS I-956, I-956F, I-956,G, I-956H, I-956K submissions. Kate has represented thousands of investors in obtaining their green cards through EB-5 regional center projects, as well as direct EB-5 investment opportunities. She also represented and structured the largest EB-5 offering in the Program’s history and has over the course of her career structured over $12 billion in EB-5 deals.

Within the field of immigration law, Kate is a well-known speaker and author. She is often called upon by various media outlets to comment on topics of business immigration law including the Real Deal, the Wall Street Journal, and Law360. Kate has appeared on numerous TV programs related to immigration law including CNN, the Stoler Report, Vietface TV, and China Business Network. Kate is also a prolific writer on the topic of immigration and has been published in immigration practice handbooks for the American Bar Association, American Immigration Lawyers Association, ILW, and in news periodicals that include the New Jersey Lawyer, the New York Law Journal, the New Jersey Law Journal, USA Today, GlobeSt.com, and the Commercial Observer. At the request of the American Bar Association, Kate co-authored the book “What Every Lawyer Needs to Know About Immigration Law,” a guide for non-lawyers on immigration law practice. She has sat on numerous bar association related committees including the American Immigration Lawyers Association EB-5 Practice Committee, the New Jersey Business Immigration Coalition and has chaired the American Bar Association’s, Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, Section of Administrative Law since 2011. Kate has been recognized in various legal surveys including Chambers Global, New York Super Lawyers, the New Jersey Law Journal who ranked as her as a “New Leader of the Bar,” (formerly 40 under 40) in 2012, NJBIZ “Best 50 Women in Business,” 2019, National Law Review, “Go-To Thought Leader: Immigration Law,” 2022, and Lawdragon 500, Leading U.S. Corporate Employment Lawyers, 2020-2022.

Kate is devoted to pro bono matters and has spent extensive time helping clients fleeing conflict and persecution with asylum applications, applying for and obtaining Temporary Protected Status and Humanitarian Parole.

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