Problems at Amlife EB5 Investor
 

We came to the Us in Dec 2009 on an EB5 Visa after Investing in the Amlife 1531 project in Seattle. Everything went fine and the project went ahead without problem with 118 investors building a $58 million dollar 6 storey Multi purpose Ofice Block in Seattle which was completed in 2010

The first 54 investors filed their I-829 petitions for removal of conditions of conditional residence without problem and we thought everything was going to be fine when we filed our I-829 petition in October 2011

However after waiting for 6 months the Immigration services have requested further evidence in our petition with a quite agressive RFE and now we are very very worried in case our I-829 Petition is denied . The main request of the RFE from the Immigration services is a detailed account of job creation that the project has created.

At the time of our initial I-829 Submission in October 2011 the office building only had 1 tennant as it was a just finished building with an occupancy rate of only 2.5%.
At the time of writing the building has a lot more tennants with an occupancy rate of 68% which we sincerely hope when informed to the Immigration services will allow our I-829 to be approved

I was just wondering if anyone on this forum is also in the Amlife 1531 Utah Avenue partnership and in a similiar position to us

The crazy thing is that in a partnership such as ours the job creation is supposed to be equally spread amongst the full 118 partners which in this case the Immigration services do not appear to have followed as they have issued 54 I-829 approvals before requesting RFE information.

Upon the first I-829 that was submitted for this project they should have examined the project fully to see if the project was on course for creating the required jobs for the full 118 investors

I will post an update as more information becomes available and our Immigration lawyer works on our RFE Submission

I just wanted to post this in order that potential Investoirs are aware that their are pitfalls all the way through the EB5 visa process and even when a project has been accepted by the Immigration services for EB5 investment and the project has followed its project plan in detail pitfalls are still likely AND NOTHING IS GUARANTEED

If our I-829 is denied it will lead to a very long legal battle between Amlife and the Immigration services with us been in Limbo and unable to leave the USA until our appeal has been processed. In a lot of cases this will not be a problem but I am a merchant navy Capt and thus have to leave the USA on a regular basis to return to my vessel in Brazil in order to maintain my income

We can only hope that the RFE submission that our immigration lawyer submits with the assistance of the Amlife legal team will be enough to satisfy the Immigration services and allow our I-829 and the further 64 Investors with I-829 petitions to be approved or else we will probably have to return to the UK. It will be a wasted 4 years of our lifes and an expenditure of over 1 milion dollars (house purchase and purchase of my wife business)in a country that does not appear at the moment to appreciate outside investment.:frown:

Regards

Alan

Re: Problems at Amlife EB5 Investor
 

Thanks Alan

Please keep posting, we are in the same project. We submitted I829 in Oct too and have heard nothing.

Re: Problems at Amlife EB5 Investor
 

Well this is the general warning about EB-5 all the time, and it's something that should always be kept in mind. The problem of course is that the recession has made a lot of these investments less successful than they should have been.

As far as you getting an RFE, USCIS has been tasked with trying to make the EB-5 programme more successful so I assume that means they have more staff on it now, given that they finally issued all the forms. It would be a rather perverse outcome if that means they're also looking at I-829 submissions more thoroughly and turning some of them down, because that has the opposite effect!

Anyway thank you for taking the time to post on here about it.

Re: Problems at Amlife EB5 Investor
 

Ive tried to e-mail you but it says delivery failure. If you send me your e-mail address I can send you the RFE we received so you can see what I am talking about

Regards

Alan

Re: Problems at Amlife EB5 Investor
 

What are American Life saying about this. Are they giving you any advice at all?

Re: Problems at Amlife EB5 Investor
 

Only received the RFE on Friday 13th (great isnt it ) and I have e-mailed Henry Lieberman at Amlife but still waiting for a reply

My Immigration lawyer states he is working witrh the Amlife legal team to prepare the RFE response

Regards

Alan

Re: Problems at Amlife EB5 Investor
 

General comment: immigration lawyers have of late noted an extreme uptick in issuance of RFE's from Hell by the minions of the Dark Forces.

The chat boards within the bar have been a chorus of "WTF's" or the equivalent.

Re: Problems at Amlife EB5 Investor
 

I really hope this gets sorted out sensibly.

I have sent you a PM to say hi and wish you luck.

Re: Problems at Amlife EB5 Investor
 

Hi Alan,
Would you mind sending me the RFE to have a look?
Thank you,
Michael

Re: Problems at Amlife EB5 Investor
 

No just send me a pm or your e-mail address

Alan

Re: Problems at Amlife EB5 Investor
 

Hello Alan,
Thanks for sharing your situation with us. This thread is being very illuminating.

I hope USCIS is satisfied with your response to their RFE and removes your greencard restrictions ASAP.

Regards,
--
Vall And Mo.

Re: Problems at Amlife EB5 Investor
 

Many thanks to all the support from people on this site I will continue to post when I have more information about what is going on

Regards

Alan

Re: Problems at Amlife EB5 Investor
 

Alan,
Would you mind sending me the RFE?

Re: Problems at Amlife EB5 Investor
 

Bit spammy ain't it, for a first post?

Re: Problems at Amlife EB5 Investor
 

Hi Bob,
You are correct but as the system will not allow me to send a private message unless I make at least three posts I cannot reply to Alan's request for a private message. Do you have a suggestion on how to provide him with my contact information that is in line with your board protocol?
Respectfully,
Michael