In early March 2016, Zhang & Associates received a notice of approval from USCIS for anI-829 Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status based on a direct investment EB-5. The case was filed in December, 2014 and was approved without RFE.

In 2012, Mr. Wang contacted Zhang & Associates with an interest to file an EB-5 petition. After an evaluationby Attorney Jerry Zhang, Mr. Wang decided to establish his own company in the United States and file for anEB-5 based on his new company. Based on AttorneyZhang’s suggestions, Mr. Wang decided to establish a new company and join a franchise in service industry. Mr. Wang filed the I-526 EB-5 with USCIS in April, 2012 and got his I-526 approvedthree months later. Mr. Wang and his family obtained their conditional green cards in February 2013.

After obtaining their conditional green cards, Mr. Wang and his family moved to the United States and began managing the company.

Under the law, a conditional permanent resident who obtains the green card through EB-5 is eligible to file the I-829 with USCIS within 90 days before the end of the applicant’s two-year conditional permanent resident status. Therefore, in October, 2014 Mr. Wang contacted Zhang & Associates to file the I-829 Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status for him and his family.The I-829 case was handled by Attorney Fei Bao (Flora).

Based on the USCIS’s memo dated May 30, 2013, in order to remove the conditions for permanent residence based on EB-5, the applicant needs to meet the following two criteria:

1. The immigrant investor invested or was actively in the process of investing the required capital and sustained this action throughout the period of the immigrant investor’s residence in the United States; and

2. Evidence that the commercial enterprise created or can be expected to create, within a reasonable time, ten full-time jobs for qualifying employees.The evidence may include, but is not limited to, payroll records, relevant tax documents, Forms I-9, W-2s, and Form 941 Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return. (1)

In order for EB-5 conditional permanent residents to remove the condition, it is not necessary that all goals of capital investment and job creation have been fully realized before the condition on the immigrant investor’s status has been removed. In other words, as long as the evidence submitted in an I-829 petition showing “it is more likely than not that the investor is in “substantial” compliance with the capital requirements and that the jobs will be created “within a reasonable time.” (2)“Within a reasonable time” gives immigrant investor some flexibility considering unpredictable market and realities. (3)

First of all, to qualify EB-5 requirements, an immigrant investor needs to invest required amount of investment to a new commercial enterprise that “will create full-time positions for not fewer than 10 qualifying employees.” (4)A qualifying employee is a U.S. citizen, a permanent resident or other immigrant with employment authorization in the United States who provides services or labor for the new commercial enterprise and receives wage or other remuneration directly from the new commercial enterprise. (5) And a full time position is a position that requires a minimum of 35 working hours per week. (6) A full-time employment position can be filled by two or more qualifying employees in a job sharing arrangement as long as the weekly working hour requirement is met. However, a full-time employment position cannot be filled by combinations of part-time positions, even if those positions when combined meet the hourly requirement. (7)

Moreover, under USCIS memo, the “two-year” required timeframe for EB-5 is deemed to commence six months after the approval date of I-526 petition. (8)In I-829 stage, it is determined based on the totality of circumstances presented whether a longer timeframe for job creation is considered “reasonable”. Furthermore,based on USCIS memo, jobs that will be created within a year of the two-year anniversary of the alien investor’s admission as a conditional permanent resident or adjustment to conditional permanent resident may generally be considered to be created within a reasonable period of time. (9)

Since Mr. Wang established and operated his own company, his investment is considered a direct investment. His new commercial enterprise is also the job creation entity. After learning the business nature and the situation of Mr. Wang’s company, Attorney Bao suggested that Mr. Wang provide evidence including the following to prove the twocriteria mentioned above:

1. Evidence that a $1,000,000 EB-5 qualified investment was made by Mr. Wang;

2. Evidence showing the investment had remained in the company for business operation needs;

3. Evidence showing more than 10 EB-5 qualifying jobs had actually been created by Mr. Wang’s company by the time of I-829 filing.

For about two months, the firm worked diligently and efficiently with the client to obtain thenecessary evidence. Mr. Wang’s I-829 was filed with USCIS in December, 2014. Initially, Mr. Wang’s I-829 receipt notice indicated that his and his family’s conditional permanent resident statuses were extended for one year. However, while the case was pending with USCIS, the processing time for I-829 petitionswas increased from about 5 months to about 16.9 months. Mr. Wang’s I-829 was approved in a little more than 14 months without any RFE. Mr. Wang was happy about the result. We wish Mr. Wang and his family the best luck in their future in the U.S.

Zhang & Associates, P.C. has successfully represented many EB-5 and related cases. If you would like to contact us, please email us at info@hooyou.com. Our attorneys will use their experience, expertise, and teamwork to ensure the highest quality of service. If you already retained another attorney but want to know a second opinion or have further concerns, you are welcome to retain us for fee-based consultation or quality control services. 

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Founded in 1996, Zhang & Associates, P.C. offers legal services to clients nationwide in all aspects of U.S immigration law. We have successfully handled thousands of immigration cases.

At Zhang & Associates, P.C., our attorneys and supporting professionals are committed to providing high-quality immigration and non-immigration visa services. We specialize in NIW, EB-1, PERM, and I-485 cases. In the past nineteen years, we have successfully helped thousands of clients get green cards. If you plan to apply for a green card, please send your CV to Attorney Jerry Zhang (info@hooyou.com) for a free evaluation.

Zhang & Associates, P.C.

Silicon Valley • New York • Los Angeles • Chicago • Houston • Austin • Seattle • Madison

Tel:	1-800-230-7040, 713-771-8433
Email:	info@hooyou.com
website:	http://www.hooyou.com

 

(04/15/2016)