USCIS Allows Indirect Job Creation to Satisfy EB-5 Employment Requirement
By Iman Omar
In a recent letter to Senator Patrick Leahy, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the USCIS Director, Alejandro Mayorkas, announced a new policy change concerning the EB-5 job creation requirement. USCIS will now accept the creation of indirect jobs, i.e. jobs created outside the geographical boundaries of a Regional Center, to count towards the fulfillment of the employment requirement.
In his letter, Mayorkas states, USCIS interprets the law to require that a regional center focus its EB-5 capital investment activities on a single, contiguous area within the defined geographic jurisdiction requested by the regional center. Nevertheless, we agree that the law does not further mandate that all indirect job creation attributable to a regional center take place within that jurisdiction. I will, therefore, ensure that USCIS policy reflects this understanding of the law.
According to EB-5 regulations, 10 or more U.S. jobs must be created or saved within two years as a result of the applicant’s investment. These jobs must be full-time positions intermittent, temporary, transient, and seasonal positions do not count towards job creation goals. They can neither be filled by independent contractors, nor can several part-time jobs be counted as a full-time position. Construction and tourism jobs, however, can be considered permanent if they are a result of the EB-5 investment and are expected to last a minimum of two years. Jobs expected to be created indirectly must also be included in the Regional Center’s business plan.
References:
Immigration Daily http://www.ilw.com/immigrationdaily/news/2010,1222-eb5.pdf
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services http://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/Laws/Memoranda/Static_Files_Memoranda/2009/eb5_17jun09.pdf