On July 24, 2020, USCIS issued an important Policy Manual update that provides long-awaited guidance affecting capital redeployment after the initial capital deployment has been returned to the new commercial enterprise (NCE). Key points to note from this update include:
– Redeployment must be through the same NCE and Regional Center, but does not need to be through the same job creating entity (JCE)
– Redeployment must be within the geographic area of the same Regional Center, but does not need to remain in a targeted employment area (TEA)
– Redeployment can be into any commercial activity that is consistent with the purpose of the NCE
– Redeployment should occur within 12 months to be considered “a reasonable amount of time to further deploy capital” but USCIS will consider evidence showing that a longer period was reasonable
– The purchase of financial instruments traded on secondary markets generally does not satisfy USCIS requirements for initial and further deployment of capital.
For more information, please see Volume 6, Chapter 2 of the Policy Manual.