Roles & Responsibilities

Our team consistently reviews and evaluates potential EB-5 projects, but we only work with experienced developers and operators who have a proven track record with projects in stable industries and predictable demand. We also structure our projects to ensure the highest likelihood of success through predictable job creation and financial projections.

Green Card Fund is an active leader in the EB-5 industry who leverage key industry relationships to stay on the cutting edge of USCIS policy. Throughout the entire process, we keep our investors up to date on their investment with regular project updates, live project construction cameras, and project site visits.

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With the intricacies of starting a new business venture in the US and the ever-changing landscape of USCIS policy, the role of investor in EB-5 is complex.  Investors are responsible for reviewing and evaluating potential EB-5 investment projects for immigration eligibility while taking into account financial considerations to ensure the best outcome.  This includes making an assessment of whether a given project meets USCIS criteria for I-526E approval, analyzing feasibility to estimate the likelihood of a timely return of investment and successful operations to ensure that jobs projected in the business plan will be created for the successful removal of conditions for the investor.

Typically, many of these functions are carried out with the assistance of trusted advisors including immigration attorneys and financial professionals.

Once a project has been selected, investors are required to compile a library of personal documentation including passports, birth certificates, marriage licenses (if applicable), police records, tax returns, financial documentation and other documents as needed on a case-by-case basis.

While the process can be daunting, Green Card Fund shares the benefit of its alliances with key strategic partners to help investors successfully navigate the process.   By providing high quality no fee referrals to a wide range of professionals including immigration attorneys, document preparation specialists, and tax and wealth planners, Green Card Fund simplifies the complex process of securing your US immigration benefits through the EB-5 program.

Our process has secured I-526E approvals for 100% of the Regional Center’s EB-5 investors and allowed over 100 families to successfully immigrate to the United States since 2010.

The developer plays a critical role in ensuring the completion of construction and providing the Regional Center with documentation of construction expenditures to support job creation.  Once developed, the operator must manage the day-to-day operations of the business on behalf of EB-5 investors and provide regular updates to the Regional Center to track operational performance.

Before Green Card Fund enters into a partnership with any developer, we require a credible third party market study and appraisal of their project to determine project feasibility.  This additional layer of due diligence provides investors with added security and up-to-date market intelligence to inform their investment decision.

Once selected, the project developer will act as a partner to our team and investors providing us with regular updates on construction progress and later, operational performance.

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A keystone of the EB-5 process, the immigration attorney shepherds investors throughout the entire EB-5 process.  This includes providing guidance on the suitability of a given project for EB-5 purposes, assisting the investor in collecting and organizing their personal and financial documentation for the I-526E petition, working with the Regional Center and investor to respond to any Requests for Evidence (RFE) issued by USCIS and preparing the I-829 application for removal of conditions.  Investor immigration attorneys typically receive mail from USCIS on behalf of investors and provide guidance on the consular interview or adjustment of status to a conditional green card.

Through coordinating the efforts of the Regional Center, the investor, and USCIS adjudicators, the immigration attorney is a very important part of the EB-5 process.  As such, aspiring immigrant investors should choose their immigration attorney wisely.  To avoid potential conflicts of interest, Green Card Fund allows EB-5 investors to work with any immigration attorney of their choosing and supports this decision by working closely with the investor’s chosen attorney throughout the EB-5 process.

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) is the government agency that oversees lawful immigration to the United States.  In the realm of EB-5, USCIS acts as the adjudicating body for EB-5 petitions including both the I-526E and I-829.  USCIS reviews all evidentiary documentation provided in support of the I-526E filing including all source and path of funds documentation, personal documents, and project related documents in order to determine eligibility for EB-5 immigration benefits.

Currently, EB-5 petitions are processed in the Immigrant Investor Program Office (IPO) located in Washington, D.C.  A team of adjudicators including economists, attorneys and business lawyers reviews every I-526E and I-829 application filed by immigrant investors as well as all Regional Center and Project related forms.  Published processing times for I-526E and I-829 applications fluctuate over time, but the 2022 update to the EB-5 program targets adjudication times for these forms to be just a few months.

During the adjudication process, USCIS reviews all evidentiary documentation supplied by the immigrant investor to prove eligibility for EB-5 immigration.  This includes verifying that the source of invested capital is lawful, a thorough check of the investor’s personal background and criminal history and due diligence on the investor’s EB-5 project.  All EB-5 investors go detailed and extensive background checks.  This is done through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or the U.S. Department of State, or both.  In addition, the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) screens EB-5 applicants in relation to their source and path of funds.

USCIS issues its own policies with regards to adjudicating EB-5 petitions and standards can change at a moment’s notice.  The uncertainty surrounding ever-changing EB-5 policy is further complicated by the limited nature of published guidance on EB-5 adjudications.  What little guidance does exist comes in the form of AAO (Administrative Appeals Office) decisions issued on contested EB-5 adjudications.  This library of case of law informs most of what practitioners in the industry use to guide the content of their submissions to USCIS.

In the context of the EB-5 process, the U.S. Department of State issues conditional, and later, permanent green cards to qualified immigrant investors.

Once an investor receives approval on his or her I-526E application, USCIS notifies the Department of State and the primary applicant (investor) goes through the process to either adjust status, if they are already in the US, or Consular Processing if they are still in their home country.

This process includes a consular interview in the investor’s home country or the filing of Form I-485 if in the U.S.

Once the consular interview has been passed or the I-485 application approved, the U.S Department of State issues a conditional green card valid for two years from the date of first entry to the United States.