V. REAL ESTATE GROUP INC, Liang Shao, Yongming Hu, Yanzhao Zou, Xiaolong Li vs U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

Filing Date:January 09, 2015

Case:V REAL ESTATE GROUP, INC. et al., vs. UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES, et al.

Jurisdiction:Federal District Court for the District of Nevada

Status:Pending

Civil / Criminal:Civil

Declaratory Judgment

Intentional Interference with Business Relations

Intentional or Negligent Interference with Economic Advantage

Steven Lee, a former immigrant investor who received an EB-5 visa years ago and who is now a United States citizen, formed Plaintiff V Real Estate Group, Inc. (“VREG”) as a franchising enterprise that would “attract foreign investment and immigrant investors from China who desired to follow [his] example and obtain permanent residence and/or citizenship in the US.” Lee created a business model that he believed satisfied the criteria of the EB-5 program. Lee chose Clark County, Nevada for his operations because parts of Clark County are TEAs, requiring an investment of $500,000 rather than $1,000,000. The four Immigrant Investors each used Lee’s business plan to establish franchised real estate companies. The Immigrant Investors then each filed I-526 petitions with the USCIS. USCIS later revoked approval because the Investors’ business plan did not demonstrate that the NCEs would require ten employees or that the capital investment was placed “at risk” for the purpose of generating a return.