自1993年由美國(guó)國(guó)會(huì)設(shè)立以來(lái)，僑外美國(guó)移民發(fā)現(xiàn)EB-5區(qū)域中心項(xiàng)目已成為美國(guó)EB-5投資移民辦理的主流選擇，有超過(guò)90%的EB-5簽證通過(guò)向區(qū)域中心投資而獲得。作為一個(gè)刺激經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)并創(chuàng)造就業(yè)的臨時(shí)計(jì)劃，EB-5區(qū)域中心項(xiàng)目經(jīng)歷數(shù)次的順延和不斷發(fā)展已愈趨成熟，并將在2018年迎來(lái)設(shè)立以來(lái)的25個(gè)年頭。
雖然于本月初再獲短暫延期至今年12月8日，然而經(jīng)過(guò)近幾年來(lái)國(guó)會(huì)關(guān)于EB-5修法博弈進(jìn)展的不斷推進(jìn)，以及移民局行政改革計(jì)劃的倒逼，EB-5改革已經(jīng)迫在眉睫。在“12.08”新一輪法案到期之后，EB-5政策將迎來(lái)何種命運(yùn)，也成為業(yè)界和投資人關(guān)注的焦點(diǎn)。為此，僑外移民特邀擁有20余年從業(yè)經(jīng)驗(yàn)的資深EB-5移民律師Ignacio Donoso先生，對(duì)EB-5區(qū)域中心項(xiàng)目至今取得的成果，以及政策未來(lái)進(jìn)行獨(dú)家解讀。
Ignacio A.Donoso
全美移民律師前三甲
美國(guó)移民律師協(xié)會(huì)EB-5委員會(huì)理事
從業(yè)20余年，蟬聯(lián)“全美最佳律師”
Q:如何客觀看待EB-5區(qū)域中心項(xiàng)目至今取得的成果?
Ignacio A.Donoso律師:
The EB-5 Regional Center Program offers both an extraordinary tool for creating jobs,
transforming communities and offering
access to visas to deserving investors with economic capital, and a platform for risk-prone investments tied to complex visa processes. In the last two decades, the EB-5 Regional Center program has seen thousands of visa applicants – primarily from China – who have completed the full cycle of investment, from conditional green card status,
to job creation, and then removal of conditions with return of their investment capital.
Some investors can point with pride to the fact that their capital was used to
help build landmark projects in major American cities
while creating thousands of jobs for U.S. workers.
At the same time,
the EB-5 Regional Center Program has experienced projects that have failed,
or been mismanaged,
or were simply paper-thin schemes to enrich promoters at the expense of investors.
僑外美國(guó)移民：EB-5區(qū)域中心項(xiàng)目在為美國(guó)帶來(lái)卓越的就業(yè)創(chuàng)造和社區(qū)改造的同時(shí)，也為合格的投資人提供了通過(guò)經(jīng)濟(jì)資本獲得簽證的渠道，并涉及一個(gè)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資綁定復(fù)雜簽證流程的平臺(tái)。在過(guò)去的二十幾年中，EB-5區(qū)域中心項(xiàng)目見(jiàn)證了數(shù)以千計(jì)從簽證申請(qǐng)(主要來(lái)自中國(guó))到完成完整的投資流程，當(dāng)中涉及臨時(shí)綠卡狀態(tài)、創(chuàng)造就業(yè)、臨時(shí)綠卡條件解除、獲得投資本金返還等多個(gè)關(guān)鍵節(jié)點(diǎn)。對(duì)于眾多投資人而言，他們可以自豪地宣布，當(dāng)他們的資金被用于建造美國(guó)主要城市地標(biāo)性項(xiàng)目的同時(shí)，也為美國(guó)帶來(lái)了數(shù)以千計(jì)的就業(yè)崗位創(chuàng)造。當(dāng)然，也存在部分EB-5區(qū)域中心項(xiàng)目經(jīng)歷失敗或不當(dāng)管理，或純粹是以消費(fèi)投資人來(lái)謀取利益的騙局。
Q:國(guó)會(huì)關(guān)于EB-5區(qū)域中心改革已取得哪些進(jìn)展?面臨哪些挑戰(zhàn)?
Ignacio A.Donoso律師:
Legislators in Congress and industry leaders throughout the U.S. have been negotiating
for approximately two years
on changes to the EB-5 Regional Center Program.
To some, these negotiations have yielded little more than a series of improvised short-term
extensions of the EB-5 Regional Center Program.
Yet, the negotiations themselves have brought about
a fundamental awareness that EB-5 Regional Center Program has been
tremendously successful as a tool for
investment and job creation.
The challenges for the future, therefore, concern reaching agreement on
how best to direct investment of EB-5 capital to communities throughout the U.S.;
how to decrease the potential
for project failures and mismanagement,
and how to reduce visa waiting lists to reasonable levels for Chinese EB-5 applicants.
僑外美國(guó)移民：國(guó)會(huì)立法者和來(lái)自全美的行業(yè)領(lǐng)袖針對(duì)EB-5區(qū)域中心變法議題已進(jìn)行了歷時(shí)兩年的談判。雖然對(duì)于某些人而言，這些談判的成功只是取得一系列短暫的臨時(shí)延期。然而，談判本身已經(jīng)達(dá)成了“EB-5區(qū)域中心項(xiàng)目作為投資和創(chuàng)造就業(yè)工具已取得重大成功”的基本共識(shí)。所以，未來(lái)的挑戰(zhàn)在于：如何最好地將EB-5資金直接投資到美國(guó)的社區(qū);如何減少潛在的項(xiàng)目失敗和不當(dāng)管理;如何為中國(guó)EB-5申請(qǐng)人合理地縮短簽證排期等。
Q:如何看待上述挑戰(zhàn)通過(guò)立法或改革手段解決的可能性?
Ignacio A.Donoso律師:
As discrete negotiations among elected officials continue, observers do expect a legislative solution,
but few are predicting when the U.S. Congress will resolve the challenges.
Recent events are indicative efforts by legislators
and U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) to continue seeking solutions.
First, the U.S. federal government has
postponed issuance of new EB-5 regulations by USCIS until April 2018. Second, the EB-5 Regional Center Program was extended until December 8, 2017 without changes,
after it was set to expire on September 30, 2017.
Most observers believe that these two actions give legislators needed time to reach agreement on changes to the EB-5 Regional Center Program.
僑外美國(guó)移民：關(guān)于改革的談判仍然在進(jìn)行，觀察者們也在期待立法的解決辦法，但是誰(shuí)也無(wú)法預(yù)測(cè)美國(guó)國(guó)會(huì)何時(shí)能夠解決這些挑戰(zhàn)。最近的很多跡象都表明，美國(guó)移民局仍在繼續(xù)努力尋找解決辦法，美國(guó)聯(lián)邦政府已經(jīng)將美國(guó)移民局公布新的EB-5法案的日期延期至2018年4月。其次，EB-5區(qū)域中心項(xiàng)目也沒(méi)有任何變化地延期到2017年12月8日，雖然其本應(yīng)在2017年9月30日到期。很多觀察者相信以上兩個(gè)舉動(dòng)將會(huì)給立法者們預(yù)留足夠的時(shí)間，就EB-5區(qū)域中心法案的改革達(dá)成一致。
Q:從目前種種跡象來(lái)看，EB-5未來(lái)將面臨哪些改革條款?
Ignacio A.Donoso律師:
Most proposed new EB-5 legislation and the proposed USCIS regulations for the EB-5 Regional Center program will increase the minimum investment amount from
its current $500,000 for
Targeted Employment Areas (TEAs) and $1,000,000 for non-TEAs.
One recent EB-5 reform bill was released in late July 2017 by
Congressman Fitzpatrick (R-PA). The Fitzpatrick EB-5 bill proposed to continue the EB-5 Regional Center program but increase TEA investments to $800,000
and increase the investment threshold
to $1.2 million for all other investments.
This solution is similar to two proposed laws presented in April 2017.
The first, by Sen. Cornyn (R-TX), would raise TEA investments to $800,000 and non-TEAs to $925,000. The second, by Sen. Grassley (R-IA),
would raise TEA investments to $800,0000 and maintain non-TEAs unchanged at $1,000,000.
僑外美國(guó)移民：無(wú)論是大部分最新的EB-5立法提案，還是移民局的EB-5區(qū)域中心法規(guī)改革提案，都提到了目標(biāo)就業(yè)區(qū)50萬(wàn)美金的最低投資額和非目標(biāo)就業(yè)區(qū)的100萬(wàn)投資額的上漲。最近的一個(gè)EB-5改革方案于2017年7月由國(guó)會(huì)議員Fitzpatrick(R-PA)提出。該EB-5草案提議，將EB-5區(qū)域中心項(xiàng)目延期的同時(shí)，將TEA最低投資額漲至80萬(wàn)美金，其他區(qū)域的投資額則漲至120萬(wàn)美金。該建議條款與2017年4月份兩份提案內(nèi)容基本一致。第一份是由Sen. Cornyn(R-TX)提出，提議將TEA地區(qū)最低投資額漲到80萬(wàn)美金，非TEA地區(qū)則漲至925萬(wàn)美金;第二份是由Sen.Grassley(R-IA)提出，提議把TEA地區(qū)的最低投資額增加到80萬(wàn)美金，非TEA地區(qū)的投資額則保持不變，仍為100萬(wàn)美金。)
Q:除了各種EB-5改革提案，EB-5區(qū)域中心政策未來(lái)是否還受哪些其他因素影響?
Ignacio A.Donoso律師:
In contrast to these proposed bills, on August 2, 2017,
Senator David Perdue (R-GA) and Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) introduced a proposed bill to entirely revamp the U.S. system for granting
lawful permanent residence (i.e., a “green card”) and, in the process, eliminate the EB-5 program and all other Employment Based immigration categories.
The Perdue-Cotton bill, known as “Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy Act,
” or “RAISE Act”, would create a points
system for granting green cards, while simultaneously reducing the total
number of green cards issued each year.
The RAISE Act seeks to create a long list factors that would allot points to applicants.
Points would be granted to applicants
for factors such as: knowledge of the English language, completion of university education,
achievements showing extraordinary ability, or making an investment in the U.S.
For example, a RAISE Act applicant would be granted 6 points for investments of
at least $1.35 million, and 12 points for investments of at least $1.8 million.
Such an investment must last at least 3 years,
and the applicant must play an active management role in a new commercial enterprise.
Despite making an investment under
the RAISE Act, an applicant is not assured of having sufficient points to qualify for a green card.
僑外美國(guó)移民：與這些提案相反的是，2017年8月2日，共和黨參議員David Perdue和Tom Cotton提出了一項(xiàng)提案，要求徹底改革美國(guó)頒發(fā)合法永居(即“綠卡”)的制度，并在這個(gè)過(guò)程中取消包括EB- 5計(jì)劃在內(nèi)的所有職業(yè)移民類(lèi)別。這個(gè)被稱(chēng)為“為增強(qiáng)經(jīng)濟(jì)改革美國(guó)移民法案”或“RAISEAct草案”的提案，提出將創(chuàng)造打分系統(tǒng)來(lái)頒發(fā)綠卡，同時(shí)減少每年頒發(fā)的綠卡總數(shù)?！癛AISE Act草案”期望建立一個(gè)給申請(qǐng)者計(jì)分的長(zhǎng)列表，獲得分?jǐn)?shù)的因素有:英語(yǔ)水平、教育程度、卓越成就，或者在美國(guó)投資。例如，在美國(guó)投資135萬(wàn)美元以上可積6分，投資180萬(wàn)美元以上則可積12分，且投資必須持續(xù)至少3年，同時(shí)申請(qǐng)人必須在新企業(yè)中發(fā)揮積極的管理作用。然而即便投資人在“RAISE Act草案”框架下進(jìn)行投資，也不能保證能有足夠的分?jǐn)?shù)來(lái)獲得綠卡。
僑外移民專(zhuān)家解讀：
盡管經(jīng)歷近25年的發(fā)展，EB-5區(qū)域中心項(xiàng)目已更加成熟，但至今懸而未決的行業(yè)監(jiān)管不嚴(yán)、EB-5欺詐等問(wèn)題，使得變法迫在眉睫。而通過(guò)國(guó)會(huì)和移民局雙線推進(jìn)的改革行動(dòng)中不難看出，EB-5漲價(jià)已是板上釘釘，而移民局更為嚴(yán)苛的改革條款，也將倒逼國(guó)會(huì)各利益方盡快趕在移民局行政改革落地前達(dá)成一致，出臺(tái)新改革法案。
因此，為避免“12.08”政策到期后EB-5改革一旦落實(shí)所帶來(lái)的諸多變數(shù)，僑外美國(guó)移民建議已確定移民美國(guó)、且資金條件成熟的投資人，盡早準(zhǔn)備遞件移民局，把握現(xiàn)行50萬(wàn)美元低門(mén)檻、高性價(jià)比投資移民美國(guó)的政策“末班車(chē)”!
近期活動(dòng)預(yù)告
主題：美國(guó)EB-5變政及排期解析會(huì)
時(shí)間：10月9日(周一)14:00-17:00
地點(diǎn)：北京市朝陽(yáng)區(qū)華貿(mào)中心建國(guó)路83號(hào)JW萬(wàn)豪酒店B1層宴會(huì)廳4
