Snake River Sporting Club Rural EB-5 Project Receives Form I-956F Exemplar Approval from USCIS

The Snake River Sporting Club rural EB-5 loan project has received Form I-956F exemplar approval from USCIS. This approval means that USCIS has reviewed the project documents of this compelling rural EB-5 project and found them to comply with the EB-5 program.

Download Form I-956F Exemplar Approval Notice

This article explains what I-956F approval is, why it is significant, and what it means for investors in Snake River Sporting Club.

What Is Form I-956F Approval?

Under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA), every project must submit Form I-956F. This form is filed by the project’s regional center sponsor and must be submitted before EB-5 investors can file their Form I-526E applications.

Form I-956F gives USCIS key information about an EB-5 project. Among other details, the application provides the following:

• project location
• qualification for targeted employment area (TEA) status
• expected amount of EB-5 capital to be invested
• entities involved in the project
  • developer
  • operator
  • regional center
  • fund administrator
  • marketing representatives
• information on those who have authority to make decisions about EB-5 funds
• industries impacted by the project
• estimated number of EB-5 jobs to be created

Why Is I-956F Approval Important?

Approval of a project’s Form I-956F application is needed for an EB-5 project to succeed. If the application is denied, EB-5 investors will not be eligible for permanent Green Cards. Regional centers with strong track records of success should know how to structure a compliant EB-5 project. As a result, they should have no real trouble obtaining Form I-956F approval.

Until a formal approval notice is issued, however, some uncertainty remains. No matter how strong its track record is, a regional center cannot guaranty that USCIS will approve a project’s Form I-956F.

Investors do not need to wait for the project to have Form I-956F approval to invest in a project and file their Form I-526E applications. EB-5 investors may invest in a project as soon as it has filed Form I-956F with USCIS. If an EB-5 investor chooses to invest in a project before Form I-956F is approved, he or she is relying on the experience and track record of the regional center.

But once USCIS approves a project’s Form I-956F application, all doubt about whether the project will be approved is gone. Form I-956F approval means USCIS has examined the project’s details and found the project to be compliant with the EB-5 program.

What specifically does Form I-956F approval mean? It means that USCIS has reviewed and accepted the following key project details:

• EB-5 investment structure of the project
• how any proposed bridge financing works
• investment security, such as an equity pledge or mortgage
• EB-5 eligible job calculation from the economic report
• TEA status of the project location

By approving a project’s Form I-956F, USCIS is, in effect, pre-approving these same details for the project’s EB-5 investors, too. For a project with Form I-956F approval, its EB-5 investors can expect their Form I-526E applications to be approved as long as their personal qualifications are accepted by USCIS. So, if an investor can prove a legal source of funds and is admissible into the United States, he or she should receive Form I-526E approval and a Green Card. And since all of the project’s details have already been reviewed by USCIS, adjudication times for investor petitions are likely to be faster.

What Does I-956F Approval Mean for Investors in Snake River Sporting Club?

Snake River Sporting Club is a compelling rural TEA project with many safety features. By approving the project’s Form I-956F, USCIS has reviewed and approved each feature of the Snake River Sporting Club.

USCIS Accepted Snake River Sporting Club’s Rural TEA Status

By approving the project’s Form I-956F, USCIS has agreed that Snake River Sporting Club is in a rural TEA. The project’s investors can invest their $800,000 with confidence, knowing that because the project is in a rural TEA, an $800,000 investment qualifies them for an EB-5 visa.

With rural TEA status confirmed by USCIS, EB-5 investors can also have confidence that their Form I-526E applications will receive priority processing. This benefit, given only to rural TEA investors, results in far shorter wait times for Green Cards.

Furthermore, USCIS approval means that EB-5 investors in this project have access to the rural set-aside EB-5 visa category. The rural set aside makes up 20% of all EB-5 visas each year. The rural category is current for all countries. This means that investors from China and India face no visa availability backlog for rural EB-5 projects. Investors are unlikely to face a backlog for rural TEA projects for years into the future.

USCIS Agreed with the Project’s Job Creation Numbers

Snake River Sporting Club is a major development project. Ultimately, the project is expected to create 747.5 jobs. As of June 26, 2024, Snake River Sporting Club has already created 585 jobs—more than enough for the first 58 EB-5 investors to meet the job creation requirement of the EB-5 program.

The project calculates job creation through an econometric methodology called RIMS II. The number of jobs created by the project is based on construction spending and operating revenue. With Form I-956F approved for Snake River Sporting Club, USCIS has agreed with the project’s job creation numbers.

As stated above, as of June 26, 2024, the project has already created 585 jobs. This is more than enough for the first 58 EB-5 investors in the project to meet the job creation requirement of the EB-5 program. However, USCIS will not adjudicate the actual job creation of the project for an EB-5 investor until he or she files Form I-829. This form is used to remove the conditions from an investor’s temporary Green Card and is not filed until the end of the EB-5 process.

That said, the first 58 EB-5 investors in the project can have confidence that the project has already created more than enough jobs for them to qualify for permanent Green Cards. With the job creation methodology already approved by USCIS and significant job creation to date, EB-5 investors in this project face substantially less immigration risk.

USCIS Agreed with the Project’s Secured Loan Structure

By approving the project’s Form I-956F, USCIS has agreed that the secured loan structure of this project is EB-5 compliant. Snake River Sporting Club features a loan secured by multiple pledges and mortgages.

Secured EB-5 loans are rare. But loan security greatly reduces financial risk for EB-5 investors.

Snake River Sporting Club EB-5 Investors Will Enjoy Faster Petition Processing

With the project’s Form I-956F approved, its EB-5 investors will now enjoy faster Form I-526E adjudication. All of the project’s details have been accepted by USCIS. When an EB-5 investor in this project submits Form I-526E, the USCIS adjudicator will defer to the project’s Form I-956F approval, meaning he or she will not have to revisit the project documentation. Instead, the adjudicator will focus on the individual investor’s specific immigrant petition.

Snake River Sporting Club Is Open to EB-5 Investors

This best-in-class is an excellent EB-5 investment option for investors seeking a high-quality, low-risk rural EB-5 project. Snake River Sporting Club is fully financed and vertical construction is well underway, with the lodge expected to be completed by the end of 2024.

Snake River Sporting Club is a popular rural EB-5 investment project, and limited investment slots remain available. All investment slots are expected to be sold soon.

Schedule a one-on-one call today for more information and to learn how you can make an EB-5 investment in the Snake River Sporting Club rural EB-5 project.