Site Visits
Since China accounts for over 80 percent of EB-5 investors,
it is not surprising that USCIS appears to have concentrated its
site visits in China. Specifically, based on communications with
Chinese clients, FDNS officers are conducting site visits at banks
issuing loans to EB-5 investors. They are asking banks to verify
loan documents and to confirm loan terms, along with other
private information about the bank’s clients - the EB-5 investors.
Utilizing Government Databases
China’s state administration for Industry and Commerce
recently launched an online database, “National Enterprise
Credit Information Public Disclosure System” (“PDS”). The PDS
database allows individuals to search for companies registered in
the PRC by location, name and registration number. Using these
three factors, the database provides details about the company
including date of establishment, registered capital, legal representative, current shareholders and current equity interest of each
shareholder and any previous registered changes in equity interest.
However, like all databases, the PDS database is not without
its updating challenges. Some of these could cause delays for an
investor’s I-526 petition. For example, the PDS database relies
on corporations to register changes in company information
with the local government, which in turn must report company
changes to the state administration. Some local governments
only require companies to update changes in equity on an
annual basis. Further, they may not register the changes in
the PDS database in a timely manner. Accordingly, it can take
months or years to update changes in the PDS database.
In addition to government databases, USCIS is routinely
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