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be repaid to the new commercial enterprise before or during the period of conditional permanent residency . This presents unique issues , because according to Matter of Izummi and the May 30 , 2013 EB-5 Adjudications Policy Memorandum , an EB-5 applicant must place his or her investment “ at risk ” for the purpose of generating a return during the period of conditional permanent residence .
It is not clear what position USCIS would take at the I-829 stage if the investment amount is repaid to the new commercial enterprise during the period of conditional permanent residency for an investor . Fortunately for this investor , his partnership made an equity investment into a project , and thus , his investment remained outstanding throughout his eight-year process . If the partnership had made a loan , this investor would have had another hurdle to overcome at the I-829 stage .
The permanent green card
Despite the myriad of issues involved in this case , the investor achieved unconditional permanent residence in 2014 . Eight full years passed from I-526 petition filing to I-829 petition approval . While this case presented challenges at every step and as a result was severely delayed it highlights the importance of keeping an eye towards the future when preparing each step in an EB-5 investor ’ s journey and employing creative strategies when necessary .
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Kate Kalmykov
Dillon Colucci
Kate Kalmykov is a shareholder at the NYCarea offices of Greenberg Traurig , LLP . Kate handles a range of immigration cases , but is particularly involved in the firm ’ s EB-5 practice , where she works with investors , regional centers and developers . In addition to providing a full scope of legal services for EB-5 participants , Kate is a respected speaker and regularly blogs on EB-5 issues . She is a founding member of The EB-5 Immigration Coalition .
Dillon Colucci is an associate in Greenberg Traurig ’ s Irvine , Calif . office . In the EB-5 realm , Dillon works extensively with investors , regional centers and developers . Employment-based immigration cases are the focus of his practice and he works as part of the firm ’ s dedicated EB-5 team .
To protect the privacy of the investor , identifying details have been removed .
34 EB5 Investors Magazine