- USCIS has continued its commitment to monitoring compliance of regional centers even during the pandemic. IPO’s compliance activity continues to complete compliance reviews and IPO will take appropriate action when a regional center fails to meet the terms and conditions of the EB-5 program.
- As a reminder, we are currently in the middle of the annual filing period for Form I-924A, Annual Certification of Regional Center. A regional center must file a Form I-924A to demonstrate its continued eligibility to operate as a designated regional center in the EB-5 program. A regional center must file for the fiscal year the regional center was designated and for every subsequent fiscal year. The filing period is between October 1 and December 29.
- As required in 8 CFR 204.6(m)(6), to maintain status as a designated regional center, regional centers must provide information annually or as otherwise requested by USCIS. If a regional center fails to properly file Form I-924A, IPO will issue a notice of intent to terminate their participation of the regional center in the program, which may ultimately result in us terminating their approval and designation as a regional center. Last fiscal year, 105 regional centers failed to timely file the I-924A and received Notices of Intent to Terminate. Of these regional centers, we terminated designation for approximately 70%.
- Please note that this year there are some changes to Forms I-924 and I-924A that recently became available. As of January 5, 2021, USCIS will no longer accept the old I-924 and I-924A forms. What does that mean? For example:
- If you file your I-924A before January 5, 2021:
- You may use the previous form with an edition date of November 21, 2019, or the new forms with an edition date of July 23, 2020.
- You should follow the instructions on the USCIS website for filing instructions and fees.
- If you file late and file your I-924A on or after January 5, 2021:
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