On June 3, 2015, Senators Charles Grassleyand Patrick Leahy introduced a bi-partisan bill to extend and amend theImmigrant Investor Program. As part of a multi-series examination of the bill,below is detailed analysis of how the bill will change key aspects of theprogram as it relates to source and path of funds.

　　2015年6月3日，参议员CharlesGrassley和Patrick Leahy提出了一项旨在延长和改善美国投资移民计划的两党联合提案。作为对该提案系列研究的一部分，以下是对该提案将会给EB-5计划的重要方面带来的变化的详细分析，因为该提案涉及了有关资金来源和路径的问题。

　　1. AdministrativeFees Must Be Sourced

　　1. 行政管理费的来源必须予以追溯

　　Current: In a 2012 Stakeholder’s meeting, Alejandro Mayorkas, then directorof USCIS, confirmed that the administrative fees must be sourced. In itsFebruary 2015 Stakeholder’s meeting, USCIS indicated that administrative feesdo not need to be sourced as USCIS did not have a “legal basis for requiringthe . . . administrative fee . . . [to have] a lawful source.”

　　现状：在2012年举行的一次利益相关者会议中，时任美国移民局局长Alejandro Mayorkas明确表示行政管理费的来源必须予以追溯。但在2015年2月举行的利益相关者会议中，美国移民局表示行政管理费的来源并不需要追溯，原因在于美国移民局并没有“要求···行政管理费···[拥有]合法来源的法律依据”。

　　ProposedChanges: Under the proposed legislation, USCIS willhave a “legal basis” for requiring investors to source the administrative fee.Proposed INA 203.5(b)(5)(L) states in pertinent part that the investor mustshow that “any funds used to pay administrative costs and fees associated withthe alien’s investment were obtained from a lawful source and through lawfulmeans.”

　　提案变化：在提案下，美国移民局将拥有要求投资人追溯行政管理费来源的“法律依据”。根据提案的《移民与国籍法》第203.5(b)(5)(L)款相关部分的规定，投资人必须证明“任何用于支付行政管理费用和外国人投资相关费用的资金是通过合法来源和合法途径所获得的”。

　　As currentlywritten, the proposed changes leave open the possibility that investors mayhave to source legal and filing fees in addition to the investment andadministrative fees.

　　就目前来看，这些提案的变化可能意味着投资人除了需要证明投资款和行政管理费的来源以外，还需要证明律师费和申请费的来源。

　　2. TaxReturns: 7 years of tax returns prior to I-526 filing tax returns mandatory forinvestors

　　2. 纳税申报单：投资人必须提供I-526申请递交前7年的纳税申报单

　　Current: Filing tax returns as part of I-526 documentation is not mandatoryas tax returns are included as one of several options to document source offunds, as supported by the use of a disjunctive “or” in the regulations.

　　现状：投资人并不一定要在I-526申请的递交文件材料中包含纳税申报单，因为纳税申报单仅仅是提供资金来源文件时诸多选择中的一个。根据相关法规中所使用的反义连接词“或”，这一主张可以得到支持。

　　8 CFR204.6(j)(3) states in pertinent part:

　　《美国联邦法规》第8篇第204.6(j)(3)款的相关部分规定：

　　To show that thepetitioner has invested, or is actively in the process of investing, capitalobtained through lawful means, the petition must be accompanied by:

　　为了证明申请人已经投资了通过合法途径获得的资金(或处在积极投资的过程中)，所递交的申请文件中必须包含：

　　i. Foreign businessregistration records;

　　i. 外国企业注册记录;

　　ii. Corporate, partnershipand personal tax returns of any kind filed within 5 years;

　　ii. 5年内所备案的任何法人、合伙企业和个人的纳税申报单;

　　iii. Evidence identifyingany other source(s) of capital; OR

　　iii. 显示任何其他资金来源的证据;或

　　iv. Certified copies of judgments or evidenceof all pending governmental civil or criminal actions.

　　iv. 所有未决的政府民事或刑事诉讼的核证判决书或证明。

　　ProposedChanges: Under the proposed bill, the followinglanguage, reproduced in pertinent part, would be added under INA 203(b)(5)(L):

　　提案变化：在提案下，以下规定将被加到《移民与国籍法》第203(b)(5)(L)款下的相关部分中：

　　i. The Secretary ofHomeland Security shall require, as applicable, that an alien entrepreneurpetition contain:

　　i. 国土安全部部长应在适当情况下要求外国企业家在申请中包含以下文件：

　　I. Business andtax including:

　　I. 企业和纳税文件，包括：

　　a. Foreign businessregistration records;

　　a. 外国企业注册记录;

　　b. Corporate, partnershipand personal tax returns of any kind filed within 7 years with any tax jurisdiction;

　　b. 7年内在任何税收管辖区域所备案的任何法人、合伙企业和个人的纳税申报单;

　　c. Evidence identifyingany other source(s) of capital; AND

　　c. 显示任何其他资金来源的证据;或

　　II. Certifiedcopies of judgments or evidence of all pending governmental civil or criminalactions.

　　II. 所有未决的政府民事或刑事诉讼的核证判决书或证明。

　　Accordingly thenew proposed changes to the INA appear to make mandatory the filing of 7 yearsof corporate, partnership, and personal tax returns for all investors.

　　与此同时，针对《移民与国籍法》新提案的变化可能会要求所有投资人必须提供过往7年的法人、合伙企业和个人的纳税申报单。

　　3. Identityof Intermediaries

　　3. 中间人的身份

　　Current: Currently, neither the regulations nor the INA requires anyidentity documents of intermediaries used by the investor in the exchange offunds into USD and transfer of USD funds into the U.S.

　　现状：目前，无论是相关法规还是《移民与国籍法》都未要求投资人提供任何有关兑换美元和向美国转账美元资金过程中涉及的中间人的身份证明文件。

　　ProposedChanges: Investors will have to provide theidentity documents of all intermediaries used in the exchange and transfer ofthe investment funds as well as administrative fees and costs.

　　提案变化：投资人必须提供所有货币兑换以及投资款、行政管理费和其它费用转账过程中涉及的所有中间人的身份证明文件。

　　4. Restrictions on Gifts: Must be gifted by aclose family member and giftor may be required to provide tax returns

　　4. 对于赠予的限制：投资人只能接受直系家庭成员的赠予，且赠与人可能需要提供纳税申报单。

　　Current: Currently, neither the regulations nor the INA place anyrestrictions on gifted funds as the EB-5 investment. Instead, under USCISpolicy, investors simply had to document the source of the gifted funds andprovide an affidavit confirming the gifting of the investment funds with noobligation or expectation to repay.

　　现状：目前，无论是相关法规还是《移民与国籍法》都未对将赠予资金作为EB-5投资款作出任何限制。事实上，根据美国移民局的政策规定，投资人只需要提供证明赠予资金来源的文件以及一份证明投资款的赠予不附带偿还义务或期望的书面陈述即可。

　　ProposedChanges: An investor may only use gifted funds forEB-5 investment if the funds are gifted by a spouse, parent, child, sibling, orgrandparent. Further, the gift must be made in “good faith” and not used tocircumvent any limitations on permissible sources of income.

　　提案变化：投资人可能只能使用配偶、父母、子女、兄弟姊妹或祖父母赠予的资金作为EB-5投资款。另外，赠予行为必须本着诚信原则作出，不可规避任何对于准许收入来源的限制。

　　Additionally, ifa “significant portion” of the EB-5 funds are gifted, the giftor must alsoprovide 7 years of tax returns prior to the I-526 filing and documentation ofany monetary judgments against the giftor. The amount of funds that wouldconstitute a “significant portion” of EB-5 funds is not defined.

　　此外，如果EB-5资金中赠予资金占据“很大部分”，赠与人就必须提供I-526申请递交前7年的纳税申报单以及任何针对赠与人的金钱裁判额的相关文件。但是，提案中并没有明确所谓“很大部分”EB-5资金的具体金额。

　　5. Restrictions on Loans: Must be secured byassets owned by the investor and lender must be a “reputable” bank or licensedlending institution

　　5. 对于贷款的限制：贷款必须得到投资人所拥有资产的担保，且借款人必须是“享有信誉”的银行或其它得到许可的借贷机构。

　　Current: Based on 8 CFR 204.6(e) and USCIS’ May 30, 2013 EB-5 PolicyMemorandum, investors have the option of depositing cash, equipment, property,or indebtedness (a promissory note) as capital; the regulation only requires aninvestor who uses indebtedness as capital to secure the capital on assets ownedby the investor.

　　现状：根据《美国联邦法规》第8篇第204.6(e)款以及美国移民局2013年5月30日发布的EB-5政策备忘录，投资人可以选择将交由他方保管的现金、设备、房产或负债(本票形式)作为资本;而相关法规仅要求使用负债作为资本的投资人提供其所拥有资产的担保即可。

　　Prior toDecember 2014, USCIS was routinely approving cases wherein the investorobtained a home equity loan using a third party’s property as collateral. Inmost cases, the third party was the investor’s minor child. Beginning in 2014,with no statutory or regulatory authority and no prior notice to stakeholdersof a change in policy, USCIS began denying such cases. As the basis for thedenials, USCIS argued that such loans were not appropriate for EB-5 investmentunder the regulations as 8 CFR 204.6(e) required indebtedness to be secured byassets owned by the alien entrepreneur.

　　在2014年12月前，美国移民局对于投资人使用第三方房产作为抵押物获得房屋抵押贷款的案例一般都会予以批准。而在大多数案例中，第三方往往都是投资人的未成年子女。但自2014年起，在没有获得任何法定或监管授权且没有事先告知利益相关者政策变化的情况下，美国移民局开始转而否决这些案例。至于否决的依据，美国移民局认为这样的贷款根据相关法规是不能作为EB-5投资款使用的，因为根据《美国联邦法规》第8篇第204.6(e)款的规定，负债必须得到外国企业家所拥有资产的担保。

　　Categorizationof capital in such an instance as “indebtedness” is incorrect. The investor isnot investing indebtedness as capital as there is no debt arrangement betweenthe investor and the NCE; that is, no promissory note exists between them.Instead, the investor obtains a home-equity loan, secured by lawfully obtainedand owned assets, and then uses the cash proceeds from the loan as the EB-5investment. Thus, under 8 CFR 204.6(e) the investor is investing “cash” ascapital; the regulations do not require the underlying home-equity loan to besecured by any personal assets.

　　在上述案例中，将资本归类为“负债”是不正确的。投资人并没有将负债作为资本进行投资，因为投资人与新商业企业之间根本不存在债务约定，也就是说，两者之间并不存在任何本票承诺。而事实上，投资人是以其合法获得且拥有的资产提供担保获得房屋抵押贷款，并使用贷款资金作为EB-5投资款的。因此，根据《美国联邦法规》第8篇第204.6(e)款的规定，投资人是将“现金”作为资本进行投资，而相关法规并未要求最根本的房屋抵押贷款得到任何个人资产的担保。

　　ProposedChanges: Under the proposed legislation, “[c]apitalthat is derived from indebtedness can only be counted toward the minimumcapital investment requirement only if such capital is (i) secured by assetsowned by the investor.” Additionally, the lender must be either a “reputable”bank or licensed lending institution.

　　提案变化：在提案下，“源于负债的资本只有在(i)获得投资人所拥有资产担保的情况下，才能被视为满足了资本投资的最低要求。”此外，借款人必须是一家“享有信誉”的银行或得到许可的借贷机构。

　　First, itappears that the legislation is allowing for a scenario wherein USCIS has thepower to determine the reputability of a bank after I-526 filing, when theinvestor has already obtained the loan and invested the capital.

　　首先，提案可能会使美国移民局有权在I-526申请递交后，即投资人已经获得贷款并作出投资之后，判定银行的信誉。

　　Additionally, ifthis legislation passes, it appears that investors would no longer be able touse a company equity loan as the source of their funds unless the companyissuing the loan happens to be a licensed lending institution.

　　其次，如果该法规通过，投资人可能无法再使用公司股权借款作为资金来源，除非发放借款的公司正巧是得到许可的借贷机构。

　　Finally, ifpassed, the new law may provide USCIS with statutory authority to deny caseswhere the investor uses loan proceeds from a home equity loan using a thirdparty’s property as collateral.

　　最后，如果该法规通过，新法将给予美国移民局相应的法定权力，否决那些投资者使用第三方房产作为抵押物获得房屋抵押贷款并将该贷款资金作为投资款的案例。

　　6. Changesto Investment Amount

　　6. 投资款金额的变化

　　Current: Investment amount is 1 million or $500,000 in a TEA.

　　现状：投资款金额为100万美元，TEA地区为50万美元。

　　Proposed: Investment amount is 1.2 million or $800,000 in a TEA. Investmentamounts are subject to increase every 5 years (starting January 1, 2020) by theamount of the cumulative percentage change (CPU).

　　提案变化：投资款金额为120万美元，TEA地区为80万美元。投资款金额将根据累积变化率(CPU)的总额每5年(自2020年1月1日起)增长一次。