On Thursday, August 24, USCIS hosted a stakeholder webinar to discuss Form I-924A, Annual Certification of Regional Center, and the recent changes to the form that took effect on December 23, 2016.
Starting February 21, 2017, USCIS began accepting only the December 23, 2016 (“new”) editions of the Form I-924 and Form I-924A. The December 23, 2016 updates to the I-924 and I-924A forms, which were accompanied by a sharply increased $17,795 filing fee for the I-924 and a brand new filing fee of $3,035 for the I-942A, reflect USCIS’s intensified focus on strengthening accountability and oversight of regional center owners and principals, as well as owners of regional center-affiliated new commercial enterprises (NCEs).
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IIUSA Member Perspective: 5 Things We Learned from USCIS’ Webinar on the Form I-924A, Annual Certificate of Regional Center
by Bernard Wolfsdorf, Joseph Barnett and Robert Blanco, Wolfsdorf Rosenthal LLP
(Originally Posted Here)
On August 24, 2017, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) hosted a webinar on the Form I-924A, Annual Certificate of Regional Center (“Form I-924A”). The Form I-924A is required to be submitted by EB-5 Regional Centers to demonstrate continued eligibility for its regional center designation. Here are five things we learned from the webinar, which provided an overview of changes to the Form I-924A in the December 23, 2016 edition:
When to File Form I-924A. USCIS indicated that EB-5 Regional Centers may submit the Form I-924A at any point from October 1 through December 29 of the calendar year in which the Federal fiscal year ended. The instructions to the Form I-924A provide a helpful chart indicating whether an approved EB-5 Regional Center is required to its initial Form I-924A:
Once the I-924A is properly filed, USCIS will issue a receipt notice within 21 days after submission. An EB-5 Regional Center who has not received a receipt notice should contact USCIS at USCIS.ImmigrantInvestorProgram@uscis.dhs.gov. USCIS noted that entities with pending I-924 Regional Center applications or EB-5 Regional Centers that have been terminated are not required to submit a Form I-924A.
Rejection of Form I-924A. USCIS noted numerous reasons why it may reject a Form I-924A filed by an EB-5 Regional Center. These include:
- Failure to completely fill out the Form I-924A;
- Failure to submit any requested documents listed in the Form I-924A instructions;
- Submission of a Form I-924 prior to October 1 or after December 29;
- Failure to include the appropriate filing fee of $3,035,
- Failure to pay the filing fee of $3,035 on a check or money order drawn on a bank or financial institution located in the U.S., or not payable in U.S. currency;
- Failure to make the check or money order payable to “U.S. Department of Homeland Security”;
- Submission of a Form I-924A signed by an individual who has not previously been approved by USCIS to complete the Form I-924A;
- Failure of an EB-5 Regional Center’s “Authorized Individual” to provide an original signature (no signature stamps or e-signatures) on the Form I-924A; and
- Submission of a Form I-924A to the Immigrant Investor Program Office in Washington D.C. (“the “IPO”).
In the event USCIS rejects an EB-5 Regional Center’s Form I-924A, USCIS will issue a Notice of Intent to Terminate the Participation of the Regional Center in the Immigrant Investor Program (a “NOIT”). USCIS indicated that a response to a NOIT should be submitted to the IPO with a copy of the Form I-924A submitted to USCIS’ California Service Center…Continue Reading
