US media: The "American Dream" may be shattered at any time. International students, please be careful!

US media: The “American Dream” may be shattered at any time. International students, please be careful! http:…

http://dailynews.sina.com/gb/ January 3, 2018 19:50 China News Network

China News Service, January 4th, the American Overseas Chinese News Network recently published an article saying that as international students get younger and younger, and their family financial conditions become more and more prosperous, many parents of students choose the investment immigration method for their children, striving to obtain a U.S. green card as soon as possible. However, investment immigration cases have occurred frequently in recent years, and at the end of 2017, the largest and largest EB-5 class action lawsuit in U.S. history broke out. This is undoubtedly a wake-up call for international students who want to invest in immigration and stay in the United States.

>Bankruptcy and reorganization of 400 million investors evaporated without warning

On November 17, 2017, more than a hundred Chinese applicants for the EB-5 U.S. Investment Immigration Program (SLS Hotel) living in Orange County, California, entrusted lawyers to formally file a case in the California Superior Court of Orange County to collectively sue the American Dream Fund Management Company (American Dream Fund, or ADF) and its director George Aikens. Ekins), and SLS Hotel Investment Project Manager. This incident involves nearly 800 Chinese investment immigrant families, with a related investment amount of up to 400 million US dollars. It can be called the largest class action lawsuit in the history of the US investment immigration EB-5 project.

According to the indictment, the plaintiff EB-5 immigrant investor’s claims include ADF’s alleged breach of fiduciary duties, suspected illegal fraud, negligent misrepresentation, etc. Therefore, the plaintiff demands that the ADF fund management rights be lifted, the SLS hotel project manager be removed, financial reporting be transparent, and investor losses be compensated.

After receiving the email of bankruptcy and reorganization in August of that year, an investor left a message on social media saying: "It was a nightmare. The first letter I received from ADF was the letter of bankruptcy and reorganization. It suddenly told us that the hotel was bankrupt and reorganized for EB-5 investors. The auction price was 185 million, which just paid back the money of the first creditor Mesa Bank. There was no money left for EB-5 investors, and there was no scum. In other words, nearly 280 million in assets disappear without explanation every year."

International students also face risks when applying for investment immigration

Indeed, in recent years, more and more parents of students choose investment immigration for their children, striving to stay in the United States as soon as possible. For the EB-5 investment immigration application for international students that has been approved, there are the following different situations.

1. International students who are already studying for a master's or doctoral degree in the United States

Most of these international students hold F-1 status and are studying for a master's or doctoral degree in American colleges and universities. In order to improve their competitiveness in the U.S. labor market, they apply for a green card through EB-5 investment immigration during their studies. This type of applicant is a self-centered applicant who, after being approved by the Immigration Service, applies for adjustment of status in the United States and submits an I-485 application.

2. International students who are studying for a bachelor's degree, high school or junior high school in the United States

Many of these international students are under 21 years old, and their parents have submitted applications before their children's 21st birthday. Applications for this type of international students use their parents as the main applicants and themselves as family members. Although such applicants also hold F-1 or J-1 status and are legally staying and studying in the United States, since their parents are the main applicant and are in China, most of them need to return to China to attend the immigrant visa interview with the main applicant at the U.S. Consulate in China.

3. Parents hope that their children will study in the United States at a certain time

Many parents hope to arrange for their children to study in middle school or college in the United States at a specific time. Chinese parents hope that their children will study in the United States with green cards so that they can have better opportunities to enter first-class educational institutions and receive education with equal status and concepts as American students. Therefore, start applying for EB-5 investment immigration before your children come to study in the United States.

4. Single parent EB-5 investment immigration

Single-parent investment immigration is actually not a category of investors, but a different form of investment immigration planning. For example, the child applies for EB-5 investment immigration with only the mother. Due to Chinese company business and tax considerations, the father does not participate in the EB-5 investment immigration application for his spouse and children. This kind of investment immigration application for partial family members is approved very smoothly.

As the number of Chinese students studying in the United States applying for green cards through EB-5 investment immigration has increased rapidly in recent years, many international students and their parents who want to stay through investment immigration have also become the targets of fraudsters: A Chinese female international student who has obtained a master's degree but wants to stay in the United States legally, applied for investment immigration to the "California Investment Immigration Fund" in San Gabriel, Los Angeles. However, in this fraud case, there were more than 100 victims, and the amount involved was more than 50 million US dollars. The US$550,000 paid by the female international student may be wasted.

How to beware of scams? Lawyers introduce the US EB-5 investment immigration application process

> EB-5 investment immigration includes two forms: basic direct investment immigration and regional center project investment immigration. The biggest difference between the two is that direct investment immigration investment requires investors to create their own companies and personally manage and operate revenue; regional center investment methods are to invest money in projects recommended by the regional center or its agent approved by the Immigration Bureau, become a partner or shareholder (limited investor) of a certain project, and entrust the regional center or its project manager with full authority to act as an agent to operate and manage the investment project.

Both have minimum investment amount restrictions, including immigrant investors investing US$1 million to start a new enterprise in the United States, or investing US$500,000 in Targeted Employment Areas (Targeted Employment Areas) such as high unemployment or sparsely populated remote villages.

For direct investment investors, it is required to create jobs and directly hire more than 10 full-time US employees within two years after the I-526 application form is approved. For investors who invest in regional center projects, they need to prove that the regional center is operating according to the business plan approved by the USCIS. If you meet all the requirements of the Immigration Bureau, you can apply for a permanent resident green card after two years.

According to Los Angeles lawyer Wang Jing, the general steps for EB-5 investment immigration application include:

First, submit the "Foreign Entrepreneur Investment Immigration Application" Form I-526 to the Immigration Bureau. The attachment includes legal proof of the required investment funds, as well as supporting documents such as business plans, and an application fee of US$1,500. The Immigration Bureau takes half a year to a year to process the application.

Secondly, apply for status adjustment. After I-526 is approved, the applicant can start to apply for a "Conditional Green Card", that is, a temporary green card, and submit the application form I-485 for adjustment of status to the Immigration Bureau. The processing process takes about 6 to 12 months. Applicants who are not in the United States must apply for an immigrant visa and undergo an immigrant visa interview and adjustment of status at a U.S. consulate. Once approved, you can obtain a two-year temporary green card, which has the same functions as a permanent green card. Immediate family members (including spouses and unmarried children under 21 years old) can apply for adjustment of status at the same time.

Finally, apply for a permanent green card. Applicants must submit the I-829 application form "Foreign Entrepreneur's Application for Waiver of Conditional Status" to the Immigration Bureau within 90 days before the temporary green card expires for two years. The processing time is half a year to one year, and the fee is US$3,750. If the applicant meets all the funding and employment requirements of the USCIS for EB-5 investment immigration, the I-829 will be approved and a permanent green card will be obtained and he will become a legal permanent resident of the United States.

EB-5 investment immigration applicants usually take 3 and a half to 4 years from the beginning of application to the final application for a permanent green card.

As for how to avoid traps, Zhang Jun, a Chinese lawyer in Los Angeles, said that no matter what project you invest in, there is no 100% insured investment: “In fact, the U.S. Investment Immigration Law requires that the investment must be a risk investment. Therefore, when someone tells you that there is no risk or zero risk, this is inconsistent with the spirit of the U.S. investment immigration law. Some investors may say that they don’t want to do anything and just hand over the money to get a green card. The problem is that there is no such situation in the United States, and green cards are not for sale.”

Therefore, if international students want to apply for investment immigration, they first need to learn more about it through professional channels in advance, and it is best to directly invest in the business by themselves. In this way, many disputes and conflicts are avoided. Otherwise, more time, energy, and money will be spent in the end, and the gain will outweigh the loss.