Annual Reporting Information / Filing Tips: Form I-924A, Annual Certification of Regional Center

Find on this page:

Section I: Form I-924A Basics

• Purpose of the Form I-924A
• Who Must File
• When to File
• Where to File
• Receipt Notice

Section II: Completing the Form

• Filling out the Form
• Required Signatures
• Continuation Sheets

Section III: Filing Tips

Section IV: Notices of Intent to Terminate (NOITs) / Suggestions to Possibly Avoid Them

• Reasons for NOITs
• Examples
• Suggestions to Possibly Avoid NOITs

Section I: Form I-924A Basics

Purpose of Form I-924A

• Demonstrates a regional center’s continued eligibility as a designated regional center in the EB-5 Program
• Is a supplement to Form I-924, Application for Regional Center* under the Immigrant Investor Pilot Program.

* A regional center (RC) is any economic unit (public or private) which promotes economic growth (including increased export sales, improved regional productivity, job creation and increased domestic capital investment).

Who Must File

An approved RC designated by the USCIS Immigrant Investor Program Office (or predecessor office).

The list of approved RCs is available on the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program page.

Note: Pending RC applicants and terminated RCs are not required to submit a Form I-924A. RCs with a designation letter dated after September 30 of a particular calendar year are not required to file a Form I-924A that calendar year.

When to File

Annually

• Between October 1 and December 29 (within 90 days after the end of the fiscal year)
• Filing is required for the fiscal year the RC is approved and for every subsequent fiscal year

Upon Request

• In addition to the annual filing described above, USCIS may request that the RC file the Form I-924A on other occasions
  Example: The RC informs the agency of a management change without filing an amendment.  In this instance, USCIS may request that an I-924A is filed within 90 days

Where to File

U.S. Postal Service

USCIS
California Service Center
Attn: EB-5 Processing Unit
P.O. Box 10526
Laguna Niguel, CA 92607-0526

Express mail and courier services

USCIS
California Service Center
Attn: EB-5 Processing Unit
24000 Avila Road, 2nd Floor
Laguna Niguel, CA 92677

Receipt Notice

Once USCIS receives and initially reviews the Form I-924A, USCIS will:

• Confirm receipt of the form
• Issue an assigned number for the receipt

If you do not receive a receipt notice within 21 days, request a duplicate notice by emailing: USCIS.ImmigrantInvestorProgram@uscis.dhs.gov

If an attorney for the RC wishes to enter his or her appearance, that attorney must submit a Form G-28, Notice of Entry of Appearance as Attorney or Accredited Representative, with the Form I-924A

Note: USCIS will not accept electronic submission of the form (e.g., through email)

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Section II: Completing the Form

Filling Out the Form

Part 1: Information About the Principal of the RC

• Provide the principal’s full name, address, date of birth, fax number, telephone number, website address and the RC’S assigned number

Part 2: Application Type

Choose the appropriate application type (“a” or “b”).

1. Supplement for one fiscal year (enter the fiscal year for which report is being submitted)
2. Supplement for a series of fiscal years (enter the fiscal years for which report is being submitted)

Part 3: (A, B, and C) Information About the RC

• Provide the complete name of the RC, managing companies/agencies, RC principals, agents, and any other individuals or entities who are or will be involved in management, oversight, and/or administration of the RC.
• Provide the complete address, fax and telephone numbers, and Website information for each individual or entity.

Part 3: Information About the RC (Continued)

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Example for Parts 2 and 3

QUESTION: If an RC selected application type a in Part 2, supplement for one fiscal year, and entered 2015, what data should be included in Part 3?

ANSWER: The data in Part 3 should be for the time identified in Part 2 (since the RC entered 2015 in Part 2a, the data reported in Part 3 should be for fiscal year 2015)

QUESTION: In Part 3 of the form, should aggregate EB-5 capital investment for each industry (Section 2) have the same data reported as in Section 1?

ANSWER: The total in Part 3, Section 2 should equal the total aggregate EB-5 capital investment in Part 3, Section 1
Aggregate EB-5 Capital Investment Part 3, Section 2 (subsections a + b + c, etc.) = Total Aggregate EB-5 Capital Investment Part 3, Section 1

Required Signatures

Part 4 Applicant Signature

• Provide signature – The signer certifies that he or she has authority to act on behalf of the RC*
• Include e-mail address so we may contact the RC

*By signing the form, the applicant certifies under penalty of perjury that the information submitted and attached evidence is correct

Part 5 Signature of Person Preparing This Form

• If someone other than applicant prepared or helped prepare form, that person must sign as the preparer
  • If the preparer is an attorney or accredited representative, he or she should sign as the preparer and submit a Form G-28

Continuation Sheets

If extra space is needed, at the top of each continuation sheet, include:

• the name of the RC, and
• the part of the form and item number for each answer

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Section III: Filing Tips

Tip 1: Provide Accurate Information

• Make sure that the information provided on the form is accurate

Tip 2: Double Check Numbers

• Before submitting the form, the RC should check and double check its numbers

Tip 3: Jobs Created vs. Jobs Maintained

• Report the total number of direct and indirect (including induced) jobs that were created during the time identified in Part 2
• Only report “jobs maintained” for the relevant time period if there was investment in a “troubled business”
• If no investment in a troubled business, all the jobs should be entered as “direct and indirect job creation”

Tip 4: Provide Job Calculation Methods

Two common methods are:

• Economic impact modeling
  • Where job creation methodologies use inputs of expenditures, revenues, and/or direct jobs, the reported aggregate jobs created should be the result of those inputs during the I-924A reporting period
• Estimates based on number of approved I-829 petitions
  • Where job creation estimates are based on the approval of I-829 petitions, 10 jobs should be reported for every I-829 petition approved within the reporting period

Note: You may wish to include a sheet to explain how certain numbers were calculated

Economic Impact Modeling

Example

The project: The construction and operation of a skilled nursing facility

Economic methodology presented when the project was first submitted to USCIS:

* For the purpose of this example, construction is expected to last more than 24 months and operational jobs are calculated as a result of direct hires

Year 1:

If in the reporting period, $3 million was spent on hard construction and $2 million was spent on architecture and engineering services, the jobs created during the reporting period would be as follows:

Year 2:

If in the reporting period, the construction was completed and the remaining $7 million was spent and the facilities became operational and four direct employees were hired, the jobs created during the reporting period would be as follows:

Note: The total construction expenditures in years one and two sum to the total anticipated expenditures. Therefore the total construction jobs credited for years one and two equal the total number of anticipated jobs.

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Section IV: Notices of Intent to Terminate and Suggestions to Possibly Avoid Them

Reasons for a Notice of Intent to Terminate (NOIT):

1. Failure to submit required information to USCIS
2. Failure to promote economic growth

A NOIT signifies USCIS intentions to terminate the RC’s participation in the program

Examples

Failure to Submit Required Information

• Not filing Form I-924A: If an RC fails to file the required Form I-924A, the RC will receive a NOIT
  • Deadline to file: on or before December 29 of the calendar year in which the fiscal year (October 1 through September 30) ended

Steps to submit the Form I-924A (after a NOIT is issued)

• Send the missing I-924A to the California Service Center per the Form I-924A instructions;
• Send the response to the NOIT to the Immigrant Investor Program Office in Washington, D.C.
• You may wish to include a copy of the Form I-924A and receipt notice, along with your NOIT response. This is optional.

Note:  If you mail the Form I-924A annual filing to Washington, D.C., instead of the California Service Center, we will reject it

Failure to Promote Economic Growth

• No EB-5 capital investment or job creation
• No approved or pending Forms I-526 or Forms I-829
• No indicators of RC activity that may lead to the promotion of economic growth

Suggestions to Possibly Avoid NOITs

Consistency in Documents

• Provide documents that are consistent.
  • Provide consistency with information presented with the Form I-924A, the RC application, and/or petitioner documents
• Take time to explain any inconsistency.
  • Example: If the business plans have changed and the RC was planning to execute a project but dropped it, we encourage you to provide additional information to explain apparent inconsistencies

Note:  There may be legitimate reasons for inconsistencies

Show Work

• You may wish to include an extra sheet to explain calculations
  • Explain how certain numbers were calculated

 Example: Consider providing the total eligible dollars (revenue/expenditures) or number of direct jobs and the multiplier used to calculate the jobs reported on the Form I-924A

Supporting Documents

• You may wish to describe the steps, if any, the RC has taken to promote economic growth and the timeframe for planned activities.
  • Examples of supporting documents: copies of licenses, permits, property purchased in support of a project or other evidence of ongoing RC activity.
    • The decision as to whether such evidence is sufficient to demonstrate promotion of economic growth is made on a case-by-case determination.

Note: There is no specific format for submission of this supplemental information if provided.

Resources

For additional information about Form I-924A:

Read the instructions on the Form I-924A, Annual Certification of Regional Center, page.

Contact the Immigrant Investor Program at: USCIS.ImmigrantInvestorProgram@uscis.dhs.gov

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Disclaimer

This page, Annual Reporting Information / Filing Tips: Form I-924A, Annual Certification of Regional Center, is intended solely for informational purposes and does not supersede or replace the Form I-924A instructions.  It is not intended to, does not, and may not  be relied upon to create or confer any right(s) or benefit(s), substantive or procedural, enforceable at law by any individual or other party in benefit applications before USCIS, in removal proceedings, in litigation with the United States, or in any other form or manner.