The Press Enterprise: Riverside County delegation concerned about visa program
Riverside County’s congressional delegation wrote a letter to a federal official asking for help regarding a visa program for investors.
In the May 27 letter to Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Alejandro Mayorkas, the four congressman discuss what they describe as difficulties involving EB-5 regional centers.
The EB-5 program provides visas for international investors who invest at least $500,000 and create at least 10 jobs in the county, according to the letter. Twenty percent of the nation’s EB-5 centers are in Riverside County, the letter read.
The problems include “a lack of customer service and communication, in addition to lengthy wait times for the approval of new EB-5 regional centers,” the letter read.
” … 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,” the letter added.
“We urge (citizenship and immigration services) 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 letter is signed by Rep. Mark Takano, D-Riverside; Ken Calvert, R-Corona; Raul Ruiz, D-Palm Desert and Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine.