EB5 Investors Magazine Volume 3 Issue 3 | Page 25

The EB-5 program presents an opportunity to take bipartisan action and improve an already successful job-creation and investment program. program, which has served as a catalyst of job creation in a diverse range of communities. As the program stands now, worthy projects have been beneficiaries of investment in a wide range of communities from coast to coast. In rural, suburban, and urban communities, each of which has unique investment needs, there have been successful EB-5 projects. Efforts to needlessly “tilt” the program towards one particular type of project would discourage competition and, ultimately, the competiveness and effectiveness of the entire program. We acknowledge that there currently exist many different proposals on this particular portion of the legislation, but there is bipartisan support for finding an equitable solution that preserves market competition and ensures that diverse communities will continue to be served by the EB-5 program. For instance, we feel that proposals that take into account existing worker commuting patterns have great value. For many business plans, it would be a relatively low burden to prove that workers were in fact coming from a neighboring community. Another item that should be included in discussions of reform are strategies to seriously address the issue of visa backlog. The fact that there is a six-year backlog right now is unacceptable. If you are a possible investor today and you look at your options to immigrate via EB-5 or other programs, and compare those with available options for other foreign investor visa programs, EB-5 may in fact have the longest wait time from initial application to permanent residence. Or, if you want to look at it from a policymaker’s perspective, a six-year backlog means that many reforms you might pass in a five-year authorization might never actually take effect. In H.R. 616, we propose exempting spouses and children from EB-5 admission limits. This is just one proposal for reducing the backlog. Political considerations make addressing the backlog hard in this Congress, but it would be a missed opportunity to not at least look for a legislative fix. These reforms should form the bulk of a reauthorization effort. Other reforms, including efforts to address processing times by creating a premium processing mechanism, and encouraging USCIS to build capacity so that it can work with more complex business plans, would be worthy additions to any reauthorization legislation. The EB-5 program presents an opportunity to take bipartisan action and improve an already successful job-creation and investment program. We will continue to urge Congress to bring forth a long-term reauthorization measure that protects against fraud and abuse but also ensures market competition. We look forward to continuing to work with you on achieving this goal in the coming year. Congressman Jared Polis represents Colorado’s Second District in the U.S. House of Representatives. At home in Colorado, Rep. Polis initially won elected office when voters selected him for a seat on the Colorado State Board of Education in 2000, on which he served for six years including as vice-chairman and chairman. In Congress, Rep. Polis has become a recognized leader on school reform, as well as immigration, civil rights, the environment and tech issues. First elected to represent Colorado’s Second Congressional Congressman District in 2008, Rep. Polis serves on the ComJared Polis mittee on Rules, the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee. He is also co-chair of the New Democrat Coalition Immigration Task Force. Congressman Mark Amodei represents Nevada’s Second District in the U.S. House of Representatives. A native of Carson City, Nev., Rep. Amodei served in the Nevada state assembly and the Nevada state senate for over a decade, incl uding two years as president pro tempore of the Nevada state senate. Elected to represent Nevada’s Second Congressional District in 2011, Rep. Amodei serves on the Committee on Appropriations. Congressman Mark Amodei WWW.EB5INVESTORS.COM 23