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American Center for Foreign Investment offers EB-5 consulting services

By Boyd F. Campbell
Attorney and Civil Law Notary

    On June 11, 2007, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officially designated the Alabama Center for Foreign Investment, L.L.C. (ACFI-RC) as Alabama's statewide Regional Center.  ACFI was established on July 5, 2006, as a limited liability company for the purpose of applying for designation by USCIS as Alabama's statewide Regional Center. About the same time, principals Ron Drinkard and Boyd Campbell established the American Center for Foreign Investment, L.L.C., to provide EB-5 consulting services for enterprises and Regional Centers with a focus on helping organizations establish Regional Centers in other parts of the United States. 
     Federal law and regulations provide for the establishment of a "Regional Center" to encourage investment by foreign nationals in the United States.  Once approved by federal authorities, a Regional Center allows foreign investors to invest their money in qualified Regional Center investment projects in Alabama to enable them to apply for immigration benefits for themselves and immediate family members (normally spouse and dependent children) in an amount not less than $500,000.  The visas are conditionally approved for two years.  The basic conditions - that the investor's capital is still at risk, and that at least ten (10) jobs for U.S. workers were created as a result - may be satisfied by presenting further documentation within 90 days prior to the second year of the foreign investor's conditional immigrant visa status in order to obtain permanent resident status in the United States.
    Congress has made available 3,000 of 10,000 available immigrant investor visas each fiscal year are set aside for investors who take advantage of Regional Centers, but the number of visas issued has rarely exceeded a few hundred each year, with the exception of 1997, when 436 investors were admitted as conditional residents. Alabama's Regional Center could generate as much as $50 million or more annually in direct foreign investment and create thousands of jobs for Alabamians -- both directly and indirectly -- each year.

Ron Drinkard

    I am very pleased that Ron Drinkard, a former senior vice president of SouthTrust Bank and Wachovia National Bank with more than 25 years of banking experience -- a banking and economic development professional I have known for a quarter century -- accepted my invitation to serve as AmCFI's Director.  I serve as AmCFI's General Counsel.
    AmCFI has already provided services for enterprises in the United States and organizations interested in establishing a Regional Center.  AmCFI provides services to these organizations to help them with the federal requirements of the Immigrant Investor Pilot Program. 
     AmCFI works closely with its clients to make sure that their Regional Center applications are properly prepared and filed and offers to stay with the Regional Center for the "ramping up" process, which can take many months if the organizations are not prepared.    Evaluating and preparing Regional Center applications for organizations under the Immigrant Investor Pilot Program represents some of the most difficult and complex legal work an immigration lawyer can undertake.  Organizations interested in establishing a Regional Center and who wish to retain  the American Center for Foreign Investment for assistance should contact me directly at +334.954.3111.
    The establishment of American Center for Foreign Investment to provide EB-5 consulting services and to assist organizations in establishing Regional Centers takes a great deal of energy, but is is rewarding.  Today Alabama can point to its automobile manufacturers -- Mercedes, Honda, Toyota, and Hyundai -- as truly astounding examples of how foreign investment has created thousdands of jobs in Alabama.  I could not be more excited about the prospects for the American Center for Foreign Investment.

    Boyd F. Campbell has practiced immigration and nationality law and private international law in Montgomery, Alabama, since 1988.  He is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), and the Alabama State Bar.  He served as Senior Vice-Chair and Chair of the Immigration Law Committee of the American Bar Association's General Practice, Solo & Small Firm Lawyers Section.  He also served as Co-Chair for employees of the Immigration Law Committee of the ABA's Labor and Employment Law Section and was a member of the ABA's Coordinating Committee on Immigration Law from 1994 to 1998.  He is a founder and served as Chair of the International Law Section of the Alabama State Bar from 2000-2002. He serves as General Counsel of the Alabama Center for Foreign Investment, L.L.C., Alabama's federally designated, statewide Regional Center.

Questions or comments about this article may be directed to:
Immigration Law Center, L.L.C.
P.O. Box 11032
Montgomery, Alabama  36111-0032  USA

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