EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program

Jesus Chapa

Housing and Economic Development Committee

February 5, 2013

Overview

• What is the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program

• Qualifying for an EB-5 Immigrant Visa

• EB-5 Regional Center Pilot Program

• Successful Communities with EB-5 Programs

• Next Steps for Fort Worth

EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program

• Created by Congress in 1990

• Administered by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (Dept. of Homeland Security)

• Two categories of EB-5 Investment – Individual

– Regional Center (1993)

EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program

• Minimum investment is $1.0 M or $500,000 if business is located in a Targeted Employment Area (TEA) where the unemployment rate is 150% of the national average rate

• Investment must create 10 direct new FTE unless the business is a Regional Center where the new jobs can be indirect

• Investor (and family) receives two-year “conditional” or temporary green card

EB-5 Immigrant Visa- Individual (New Business Enterprise)

• To qualify you must: – Invest at least $1.0 M or $500,000 if in a TEA

– Create 10 full-time jobs

– Be involved in the day-to-day management of the new business or directly manage it through formulating business policy for example as a corporate office or board member

EB-5 Immigrant Visa- Individual (Troubled Business)

• To qualify you must: – Invest in a business that has existed for at least two

years – Invest in a business that has incurred a net loss for the

12 to 24 month period before filing for the visa • The loss for the 12 to 24 month period must be at least

equal to 20% of the business’s net worth before the loss

– Maintain the number of jobs at no less than pre-investment level for a period of at least two years

– Be involved in the day-to-day management of the new business or directly manage it through formulating business policy (ex. corporate office or board member)

Regional Center Investment Program

• Created by Congress in 1993 through the EB-5 category to encourage foreign investment

• A Regional Center is defined as any economic unit, public or private, which is involved with the promotion of economic growth, improved regional productivity, job creation, and increased domestic capital investment

• Must detail region, target industries, business structure and economic analysis

• Investments through Regional Centers can create jobs directly or indirectly in related industries

Regional Center Investment

• Foreign investor must: – Demonstrate that a qualified investment is being

made in a new commercial enterprise located within an approved Regional Center

– Invest at least $500,000 in qualifying TEAs, or $1.0 M in all other areas

– Show that 10 or more jobs are created either directly or indirectly by the new enterprise

– Investment is in the form of a loan

Successful Regional Centers

• CanAm PIDC Regional Center – Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC)is the

economic development arm of the City of Philadelphia, in conjunction with CanAm Enterprises, LLC created the regional center

– Covers the County of Philadelphia – Targets tourism, trade, technology, higher education, and

transportation industries – Loan amounts totaling $548,500,000 (1097 investors on 26 projects)

• The City of Dallas Regional Center (CDRC) – Public/private partnership between the City of Dallas and Civitas

Capital Management LLC – Covers the entire City of Dallas – Invest in 12 distinct business sectors in the City of Dallas – Civitas Capital Management LLC manages the regional center

designation for the City of Dallas

Recommendation

• If Council agrees, staff will study feasibility of: – Establishing a Regional Center in Fort Worth – Creating a partnership with the Chamber and a

third party private sector entity to administer the Regional Center

– Utilizing the Local Development Corporation as the potential entity to partner with the Chamber instead of the City

• Designate Project Specific TEAs on a Case-by-Case Basis until a Regional Center is established

EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program

Questions?