EB5 Capital is pleased to report that its San Luis Obispo Marriott Hotels (JF31) project and SouthFace Village at Okemo (JF36) project were both approved by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in May 2024. Since the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA) was enacted, EB5 Capital has obtained Form I-956F project approvals across nine EB-5 projects.
These Form I-956F approvals signify that USCIS, the government agency that oversees the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, has assessed, and verified the compliance of the EB-5 project. An I-956F project approval is also required before USCIS adjudicating individual I-526E petition approvals, the application for a foreign investor to secure conditional permanent residency in the United States.
“We are happy to see more of these project approvals come through, especially on our first rural deal in this post-RIA landscape,” said Brian Ostar, President of EB5 Capital. “SouthFace Village at Okemo is an exciting project, and we are confident its development will further enhance the local Okemo Mountain community and its year-round activities in central Vermont.”
SouthFace Village at Okemo (JF36) is a for-sale luxury ski-in and ski-out residential development on the southeast face of Okemo Mountain Resort in Ludlow, Vermont. As a rural Targeted Employment Area (TEA), this project qualifies for priority processing with USCIS. The recent Form I-956F project approval was granted within six months after the application was filed.
San Luis Obispo Marriott Hotels (JF31), the other EB5 Capital project recently approved by USCIS, is a four-story Marriott dual-branded Residence Inn and SpringHill Suites hotel in San Luis Obispo, California. The project is designated as a high unemployment TEA and was one of EB5 Capital’s first EB-5 raises under the new EB-5 legislation. Both JF36 and JF31 are currently under construction and are expected to generate over 1,300 jobs in total.
Now that both projects are approved by USCIS, EB5 Capital is looking forward to receiving individual I-526E petition approvals soon. The firm will continue to track the remainder of the construction process and support its investors with the completion of their immigration journey to the United States.