FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Roy Budd – 765.254.1420
Tom Farris – 765.254.1420
Marlene Pulley – 765.254.1420
Energize-ECI EB-5 Visa Regional Center, LLC
Receives Approval from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to Establish an
EB-5 Visa Regional Center in East Central Indiana
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has approved the application of Energize-ECI EB-5 Visa Regional Center, LLC. The new Regional Center hopes to bring millions of dollars in foreign investment and thousands of new jobs to East Central Indiana during the next five years. Energize-ECI EB-5 Visa Regional Center, LLC, is a government sanctioned investment zone that provides eligible foreign investors a faster path to U.S. Citizenship in exchange for employment based visa rules by Regional Center is organized by the USCIS, which is a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and is commonly known as the EB-5 immigrant investor program. The Regional Center acts as a facilitator bringing the project developers and foreign investors together, reviewing and evaluating proposed business plans for projects and placing qualifying projects before interested investors.
Congress created fifth employment based preference (EB-5) immigrant visa category in 1990 for qualified foreigners seeking to invest in a business that will benefit the U.S. economy and create or save at least 10 full-time jobs for American workers. The basic amount required to invest is $1 million, although that amount is reduced to $500,000 if the investment is made in a rural or high unemployment area (call a Targeted Employment Area – TEA). Of the approximately 10,000 EB-5 green cards available each year, 3,000 are reserved for foreign nationals who invest in a Targeted Employment Area *TEA) through a Regional Center such as Energize-ECI EB-5 Visa Regional Center, LLC.
EB-5 investors may be eligible for an EB-5 immigrant visa if they have invested – or are actively in the process of investing – the required amount of capital into one of the following for-profit business types:
- A new commercial enterprise
- An enterprise which will expand to 140% of pre-investment
Net worth or number of employees, or:
- A troubled business in which jobs will be preserved
To encourage foreign EB-5 investment in the U.S. economy, Congress created an EB-5 pilot program in 1992. By doing so, Congress permitted the USCIS to designate qualified applicants as Regional Centers. A Regional Center is a private enterprise or or governmental entity with a targeted investment program within a defined geographic region. Over 98 per cent of immigration investment is conducted through USCIS approved Regional Centers.
The EB-5 Visa program provides qualifying investors a temporary green card in exchange for their capital infusion from $500,000 to $1 million to a new or existing business and the creation or saving of at least10 new jobs for American workers. After two years, the investor/applicant may petition the USCIS to remove the initial restrictions from their visas. The defined geographic business investment development area authorized by the USCIS for the Energize-ECI
EB-5 Regional Center, LLC includes: Blackford, Delaware, Fayette, Grant, Henry, Jay, Madison, Randolph and Rush counties in East Central Indiana – a region hit especially hard by the domestic auto industry downturn and the lingering recession. All of the nine ECI counties offer some $500,000 investment level opportunities, with Delaware and Madison counties, along with the City of Marion, also having $1 million investment areas.
The Regional Center will focus on offering EB-5 compliant investment opportunities in new or qualifying existing commercial enterprises in the following six target industry USCIS approved economic categories: (1) Agriculture, food processing, forestry, fishing and hunting; (2) Construction; (3) Manufacturing and advanced technologies; (4) Information technologies; (5) Transportation, warehousing, distribution and logistics; and (6) Manufacturing and processing – green technologies and recycling. The Energize-ECI EB-5 Visa Regional Center, LLC is the first Indiana owned and operated EB-5 Regional Center in the state. The Regional Center is currently consulting with two active prospects who could bring about $500 million of capital investment and more than 2,000 new jobs.
There are four steps to becoming a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) through the EB-5 program.
- USCIS form I-526 immigrant petition approval.
- Application for an immigrant visa either through adjustment of status (form I-485) in the United States with USCIS, or through an application for immigrant visa (form DS-230) with the Department of State (DOS).
- Upon approval of the form I-485 or admission on an EB-5 immigrant visa, the alien is granted two-years of conditional permanent resident status.
- A form I-829 petition to remove the conditions on the LPR status must be filed at the end of the two-year conditional period. If the alien has fulfilled the EB-5 requirements, then the conditions will be removed and the alien will be an unconditional LPR.
Roy Budd, Energize-ECI EB-5 Regional Center, LLC principal, advised, “This is a prime example of economic development regionalism at its best. The local economic development directors and mayors of the communities in nine ECI counties have been very supportive and helpful in this endeavor. Typical EB-5 projects utilize traditional forms of financing along with the EB-5 investments – as each EB-5 investor amount must result in the creation or saving of 10 new jobs for Americans. This is a great new tool to accelerate economic development and momentum in East Central Indiana. We expect to begin generating great interest here in Indiana – and around the world.”
Tom Farris, also a principal in the new Regional Center, added, “The application process resulting in approval has taken over 17 months of USCIS review and about one year of research and planning prior to submitting our application. I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the special efforts of the office of Congressman Mike pence and Senator Richard Lugar, assisting by the offices of Senator Dan Coats and Congressman Dan Burton and our legal counsel. The Indiana Economic Development Corporation also provided great support – and we worked together to help them establish a state protocol for reviewing EB-5 Targeted Employment Area matters. It was truly a team effort. We are establishing our evaluation criteria for reviewing business plans which may be appropriate for financing by EB-5 investors, and we’ll be making that information public within the next 30 days. We have a lot of work to do in launching our Regional Center now that approval has been received – plus many people to contact about the development and investment opportunities offered by the EB-5 program.” Marlene Pulley, Regional Center principal will serve as Director of Compliance for the Regional Center.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
ORGANIZATION / ADDRESS
Energize-ECI EB-5 Visa Regional Center, LLC
P.O. Box 1912, Muncie, IN 47308-1912
Phone: (765) 254.1420 / Fax: (765) 254.1450
Email: info@energize-eci.org
USCIS APPROVED TARGET INDUSTRIES
(1) Agriculture, food processing, forestry, fishing and hunting
(2) Construction
(3) Manufacturing and advanced technologies
(4) Information technologies
(5) Transportation, warehousing, distribution and logistics
(6) Manufacturing and processing – green technologies and recycling
GEOGRAPHIC AREA – PARTICIPATING COUNTIES FOR IMMIGRANT INVESTOR EB-5 VISA REGIONAL CENTER, LLC IN EAST CENTRAL INDIANA
COUNTY POPULATION COUNTY SEAT
Blackford 13,189 Hartford City
Delaware 115,419 Muncie
Fayette 24,273 Connersville
Grant 68,847 Marion
Henry 47,181 New Castle
Jay 21,514 Portland
Madison 131,312 Anderson
Randolph 25,859 Winchester
Rush 17,494 Rushville
