United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Archives

The Puerto Rico Builders Association continues with renewed effort and enthusiasm to promote Puerto Rico’s business and tourism industries on the island as well as the mainland U.S.. In 2017, the Puerto Rico Builders Association and Governor Ricardo Rosselló Nevares hosted over two hundred investors, developers, and institutional capital groups at the Caribbean and Latin America Investment Summit. The event was a resounding success and attracted many large investment groups to Puerto Rico – as well as garnered much National and International media attention.

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Building on last year’s success, The Puerto Rico Builders Association will be hosting with Bisnow, the largest platform for CRE news, events and education in the world, its first Caribbean Hospitality Investment Summit in Miami. Join us on August 23, 2018, at the summit, where we will gather industry leaders and key government representatives to discuss everything from hotel and resort development, to the future of tourism, resiliency, and recovery strategies. Some of the speakers include:

Ing. Emilio Colón Zavala President  Puerto Rico Builders Association/ ECZ Group, Richard Millard CEO Trust Hospitality, Rogerio Basso Head of Tourism Inter-American Development Bank, Fernando Fernandez Vice President Of Development, Caribbean Apple Leisure Group, Jonathan Kracer Founder Sion Capital, LLC., Ted Middleton Senior Vice President – Development – Hilton Worldwide, Christian Glauser-Benz Vice President, Development & Acquisitions Dream Hotel Group, Harry Cook Capital Member, Real Estate & Finance Practice Group McConnell Valdés, Vanessa Mange Director, Global Development Kimpton Hotels, Jorge Ruiz-Montilla Capital Member and Chairman, Real Estate & Finance Practice Group McConnell Valdés,

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For more information about the event, please contact Adam Greenfader at 305.363.8833 or to grab a ticket, visit Bisnow’s event page. https://www.bisnow.com/south-florida/events/hotel/Caribbean-Hospitality-Investment-Summit-980

The Four Seasons EB-5 project in Cayo Largo raises over $100 million dollars in EB-5 financing principally from China & Brazil.

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Regional Center Corporation received its United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) designation on December 22, 2014. As of August 3, 2015, USCIS had approved 7 of these Regional Centers are based in Puerto Rico:

Caribbean USA Economic Development Regional Center
Iconic Caribbean EB-5, LLC
Omega Puerto Rico Regional Center, LLC
Puerto Rico Provident Regional Center, LLC
Reside in America Puerto Rico, LLC
Caribbean Regional Center, LLC
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Regional Center Corp

The EB 5 program allows foreign investors to “buy” residency in the United States and ultimately apply for full U.S. citizenship. The investment requirement is typically US $1,000,000 per foreign investor. Under the USCIS rules, the Economic Development Administration of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico has been designated a high unemployment area. This means that a foreign investor interested in making a qualifying investment in Puerto Rico may apply to have Puerto Rico as the geographical area thus lower the amount of capital required to $500,000.

It is also worth noting that an immigrant investor that becomes a United States citizen upon naturalization in Puerto Rico after residing in Puerto Rico for the required time period will be treated as nonresident aliens for United States estate and gift tax purposes. Consequently, such investor will enjoy the Puerto Rico income tax exemptions granted by Act. No. 22 on his or her investment income; and will not be subject to United States estate or gift tax, unless he invests in property located in the United States.

This combination of EB-5 plus Act 20/22 Tax Incentives is starting to see some significant interest particularly from Chinese investors.

act 20/22 eb5 United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)