[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 247 (Tuesday, December 27, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79343-79345]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-28144]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

[OMB Control Number 1615-NEW]


Agency Information Collection Activities; New Collection

AGENCY: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of 
Homeland Security.

ACTION: 30-Day notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Citizenship 
and Immigration Services (USCIS) will be submitting the following 
information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) for review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act of 1995. The purpose of this notice is to allow an 
additional 30 days for public comments.

DATES: Comments are encouraged and will be accepted until January 26, 
2023.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and/or suggestions regarding the item(s) 
contained in this notice, especially regarding the estimated public 
burden and associated response time, must be submitted via the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal website at http://www.regulations.gov under e-Docket 
ID number USCIS-2022-0010. All submissions received must include the 
OMB Control Number 1615-NEW in the body of the letter, the agency name 
and Docket ID USCIS-2022-0010.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: USCIS, Office of Policy and Strategy, 
Regulatory Coordination Division, Samantha Deshommes, Chief, Telephone 
number (240) 721-3000 (This is not a toll-free number; comments are not 
accepted via telephone message.). Please note contact information 
provided here is solely for questions regarding this notice. It is not 
for individual case status inquiries. Applicants seeking information 
about the status of their individual cases can check Case Status 
Online, available at the USCIS website at http://www.uscis.gov, or call 
the USCIS Contact Center at (800) 375-5283; TTY (800) 767-1833.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On March 15, 2022, President Biden signed the EB-5 Reform and 
Integrity Act of 2022, Div. BB of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 
2022 (Pub. L. 117-103) into law, which revised INA 203(b)(5). The law 
immediately repealed the former Regional Center (RC) Program statute at 
Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related 
Agencies Appropriations Act 1993, Public Law 102-395, 106 Stat. 1828, 
Sec.  610(b).
    The law also reauthorized a substantially reformed EB-5 Regional 
Center (RC) Program which became effective on May 14, 2022. Though 
USCIS will continue to provide similar services for the newly reformed 
RC program as it did under the former RC program (such as initial 
designations, petition adjudications, etc.), the newly

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authorized RC program has a different legal framework and requirements 
from the previously authorized program. Consequently, the current Form 
I-924 and Form I-924A would not sufficiently collect the necessary 
information required to adjudicate services under this new program. In 
an effort to reduce confusion for the services provided in the newly 
authorized RC program, USCIS discontinued the Form I-924 and Form I-
924A collection of information and will be submitting a new information 
collection under a separate OMB Control Number. Furthermore, the new 
law included an exemption from the Paperwork Reduction Act for a 1-year 
period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, March 15, 
2022. In order to meet the immediate requirements of the Act, the 
creation of new collections of information to address the newly 
authorized RC Program were expected to take effect 60 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, May 14, 2022.
    Accordingly, USCIS created new forms to address the requirements in 
the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 and provide services under 
the newly authorized RC Program. USCIS created five new forms: Form I-
956, Application for Regional Center Designation; Form I-956F, 
Application for Approval of an Investment in a Commercial Enterprise; 
Form I-956G, Regional Center Annual Statement; Form I-956H, Bona Fides 
of Persons Involved with Regional Center Program; Form I-956K, 
Registration for Direct and Third-Party Promoters. USCIS began 
accepting the new forms upon release after May 14, 2022.
    On June 24, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District 
of California preliminarily enjoined USCIS from ``treating as 
deauthorized the previously designated regional centers'' including 
``processing new I-526 petitions from immigrants investing through 
previously authorized regional centers . . . just as the agency would 
do for a newly approved regional center.'' Behring v. Mayorkas, Order 
Granting Plaintiff's Motion for a Preliminary Injunction, Case No. 22-
cv-02487-VC (N.D. Cal. Jun 24, 2022). On September 1, 2022, the U.S. 
District Court in Behring approved a settlement between the parties. 
Under the terms of the settlement, previously designated regional 
centers did not lose their designation as a result of the EB-5 Reform 
and Integrity Act of 2022. As USCIS is working to implement the 
settlement, if it determines changes to the Forms I-956, I-956F, I-
956G, I-956H, or I-956K are necessary, it will pursue such changes 
through either this new form development process or other appropriate 
mechanism.

Comments

    The information collection notice was previously published in the 
Federal Register on September 2, 2022, at 87 FR 54233, allowing for a 
60-day public comment period. USCIS received sixteen comments in 
connection with the 60-day notice.
    You may access the information collection instrument with 
instructions, or additional information by visiting the Federal 
eRulemaking Portal site at: http://www.regulations.gov and enter USCIS-
2022-0010 in the search box. The comments submitted to USCIS via this 
method are visible to the Office of Management and Budget and comply 
with the requirements of 5 CFR 1320.12(c). All submissions will be 
posted, without change, to the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov, and will include any personal information you 
provide. Therefore, submitting this information makes it public. You 
may wish to consider limiting the amount of personal information that 
you provide in any voluntary submission you make to DHS. DHS may 
withhold information provided in comments from public viewing that it 
determines may impact the privacy of an individual or is offensive. For 
additional information, please read the Privacy Act notice that is 
available via the link in the footer of http://www.regulations.gov.
    Written comments and suggestions from the public and affected 
agencies should address one or more of the following four points:
    (1) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;
    (2) Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of 
the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
    (3) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected; and
    (4) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those 
who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic 
submission of responses.

Overview of This Information Collection:

    (1) Type of Information Collection Request: New Collection.
    (2) Title of the Form/Collection: Application for Regional Center 
Designation; Application for Approval of an Investment in a Commercial 
Enterprise; Regional Center Annual Statement; Bona Fides of Persons 
Involved with Regional Center Program; Registration for Direct and 
Third-Party Promoters.
    (3) Agency form number, if any, and the applicable component of the 
DHS sponsoring the collection: I-956; I-956F; I-956G; I-956H; I-956K; 
USCIS.
    (4) Affected public who will be asked or required to respond, as 
well as a brief abstract: Primary: Individuals or households. The Form 
I-956 is used to request U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services 
(USCIS) designation as a regional center under Immigration and 
Nationality Act (INA) section 203(b)(5)(E), or to request an amendment 
to an approved regional center designated under INA 203(b)(5)(E). The 
Form I-956F is used by a designated regional center to request approval 
of each particular investment offering through an associated new 
commercial enterprise. The Form I-956G is used by regional centers to 
provide required information, certifications, and evidence to support 
their continued eligibility for regional center designation. Each 
approved regional center must file Form I-956G for each Federal fiscal 
year (October 1 through September 30) on or before December 29 of the 
calendar year in which the Federal fiscal year ended. The Form I-956H 
must be completed by each person involved with a regional center, new 
commercial enterprise, or affiliated job-creating entity and submitted 
as a supplement to Form I-956, Application for Regional Center 
Designation, or other forms where persons are required to attest to 
their eligibility to be involved with the EB-5 entity and compliance 
with INA section 203(b)(5)(H). The Form I-956K must be completed by 
each person acting as a direct or third-party promoter (including 
migration agents) of a regional center, any new commercial enterprise, 
an affiliated job-creating entity, or an issuer of securities intended 
to be offered to alien investors in connection with a particular 
capital investment project.
    (5) An estimate of the total number of respondents and the amount 
of time estimated for an average respondent to respond: The estimated 
total number of respondents for the information

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collection I-956 is 400 and the estimated hour burden per response is 
23 hours; the estimated total number of respondents for the information 
collection I-956F is 1,000 and the estimated hour burden per response 
is 25 hours; the estimated total number of respondents for the 
information collection I-956G is 643 and the estimated hour burden per 
response is 16.03 hours; for the audit requirement associated with the 
I-956G, the estimated total number of respondents for Compliance Review 
is 40 and the estimated hour burden per response is 24 hours and the 
estimated total number of respondents for the information collection 
during the Site Visit is 40 and the estimated hour burden per response 
is 16 hours; the estimated total number of respondents for the 
information collection I-956H is 3,643 and the estimated hour burden 
per response is 1.65 hours; the estimated total number of respondents 
for the information collection of Biometrics Processing for Form I-956H 
is 3,643 and the estimated hour burden per response is 1.17 hours; the 
estimated total number of respondents for the information collection I-
956K is 632 and the estimated hour burden per response is 2.04 hours.
    (6) An estimate of the total public burden (in hours) associated 
with the collection: The total estimated annual hour burden associated 
with this collection is 57,657 hours.
    (7) An estimate of the total public burden (in cost) associated 
with the collection: The estimated total annual cost burden associated 
with this collection of information is $2,907,788.

    Dated: December 21, 2022.
Samantha L Deshommes,
Chief, Regulatory Coordination Division, Office of Policy and Strategy, 
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland 
Security.
[FR Doc. 2022-28144 Filed 12-23-22; 8:45 am]
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