Letter to Alejandro Mayorkas, Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services - Regional Center Issues

Letter

Mr. Alejandro Mayorkas
Director
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Department of Homeland Security
245 Murray Lane, SW
Washington, DC 20528

Dear USCIS,

Recently, we received a letter from the County of Riverside detailing certain issues that EB-5 regional centers in the Riverside area have been having with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). These issues include a lack of customer service and communication, in addition to lengthy wait times for the approval of new EB-5 regional centers. We urge USCIS to address these concerns, ensure that inquiries from EB-5 regional centers are responded to in a timely manner, and improve the EB-5 regional center approval process.

The EB-5 regional center program has played an essential role in Riverside County's economy. In fact, twenty percent of the nation's EB-5 regional centers are located in Riverside County, and each of the 28 cities in the county has felt the positive effects.

Unfortunately, our EB-5 centers have experienced difficulties working with USCIS. According to Riverside County, "calls and emails to the USCIS Ombudsman are not returned, and emails to employees regarding status updates on applications are ignored. These delays are severely impacting international investor confidence…[and] translate into a lack of job creation in our county and all loss of investment capital here." Additionally, the approval process for new EB-5 centers now averages a full year. The federal government should be helping these job creators, not hindering them.

Again, we urge you to address the apparent customer service issues and to evaluate potential ways to expedite the approval process for new EB-5 regional centers, while ensuring that the EB-5 visa process continues to thoroughly vet visa applications in order to prevent fraud and maintain the integrity of the EB-5 visa. We request a response to this letter by no later than June 18, 2013.


Sincerely,


MARK TAKANO

KEN CALVERT

RAUL RUIZ

DUNCAN HUNTER

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