On May 15, 2018, USCIS revised its Policy Manual, effective immediately. The agency will no longer count the jobs created for US workers through tenant occupancy of EB5 properties. The result of this change is to reduce the amount of immigrant investor funds available to create jobs for US workers.
“EB5” refers to the US employment-based fifth preference immigrant visa. EB5 is a program (sometimes called “traditional EB5”) Congress created in 1990 to stimulate the US economy through job creation for US workers using investment by foreign investors. In 1992, Congress created the Immigrant Investor Pilot Program (regional center EB5), a temporary program that Congress has repeatedly extended, most recently through September 30, 2018. (See our previous posting “EB5 immigrant investor visas are available again”).
Both types of EB5s generally require that at least ten full-time equivalent new jobs for US workers be created by each immigrant’s investment. A key advantage of a regional center EB5 is that “indirect” and “induced” jobs are included in the job creation count (in addition to “direct” jobs), whereas a traditional EB5 counts only direct jobs.
Direct jobs refer to US workers employed directly by the business that received the EB5 investment. Payroll tax records show direct jobs. Indirect and induced jobs refer to employees of other business as a result of EB5 investment. The calculation of indirect and induced jobs is based on an economic analysis using models accepted by USCIS.
The “tenant-occupancy” model counts job creation by independent tenant businesses that lease space in buildings developed with EB5 funding. In the past, USCIS accepted the tenant-occupancy model.
USCIS’ skeptical attitude toward the tenant-occupancy model can be traced back to early 2012 when it rolled out a Request for Evidence (RFE) template for tenant occupancy seeking evidence that the projected jobs attributable to prospective tenants would represent only newly created jobs, and not jobs that had merely been related from another location. In December of that year, USCIS issued “Operational Guidance for EB-5 Cases Involving Tenant-Occupancy,” which clarified that to claim tenant jobs, the economic analysis must project the number of newly created jobs that would not have been created but for the economic activity of the EB5 commercial enterprise. In making that projection, the claimant must use economically and statistically valid forecasting tools. USCIS made determinations on a case-by-case basis and would generally require an evaluation of the verifiable details provided and the overall reasonableness of the methodology as presented.
The 2012 memo suggested two ways to demonstrate a causal relationship between the EB5 investment and tenant jobs:
- “[M]ap a specific amount of direct, imputed, or subsidized investment to such new jobs” (i.e., “show an equity or direct financial connection between the EB5 capital investment and the employees of the prospective tenants”); and
- Utilize a “facilitation-based approach,” seeking to “demonstrate that the economic benefits provided by a specific space/project will remove a significant market-based constraint” and “result in a specified prospective number of tenant jobs that will locate in that space.”
Beginning in 2013, USCIS modified its tenant-occupancy model position. The agency’s RFE template identified the following three distinct areas of concern:
- Will there be tenants to occupy the space once construction is completed?
- Will the tenant jobs be “new jobs” and not “merely relocated”?
- Are the job creation estimates based on a reasonable and transparent methodology?
Over the years, practitioners in the EB5 field have reported that in tenant-occupancy cases, USCIS, when issuing RFEs or Notices of Intent to Deny, tended to require EB5 immigrants to either (i) remove tenant jobs from the job creation calculation; or (ii) submit additional evidence that shows by the preponderance of evidence (more likely than not) that the tenants will be there to occupy the commercial space when the project is finished, that the tenant jobs are not merely relocated from another commercial space within the same geographical area, and that the estimated number of tenant jobs is a reasonable estimate.
Given the lengthy adjudication time, the capital at stake and the uncertainty involved, many EB5 immigrants gave up claiming tenant jobs. Subsequent formulations of EB5 projects largely steered away carefully from the tenant-occupancy methodology to avoid potential issues.
Now, USCIS has formally rescinded its previous guidance and will no longer consider tenant-occupancy methodology. The agency will continue to give deference to Form I-526 and Form I-829 petitions directly related to previous approved projects, absent material change, fraud or misrepresentation, or legal deficiency of the prior determination.
USCIS is accepting comments on the new policy until May 29, 2018.
Full text of the agency’s Policy Alert can be found here. Dentons represents regional centers, EB5 investment programs and individual investors on both traditional and regional center EB5 programs. Please contact your Dentons lawyer for more information.
