Pathway Capital named R.I.’s first EB-5 center for foreign investors

U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND Immigration Services has designated Pathway Capital Partners LLC Rhode Island's first EB-5
U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND Immigration Services has designated Pathway Capital Partners LLC Rhode Island's first EB-5 "regional center." The EB-5 program -- also known as the Immigrant Investor Program -- provides green cards for foreigners who invest at least $500,000 in projects in the U.S. that create at least 10 permanent jobs.

PROVIDENCE – Pathway Capital Partners LLC has been cleared by the federal government to broker investments in Rhode Island projects from foreign nationals seeking permanent residence in the United States.

The Providence firm was designated Rhode Island’s first “regional center” by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services at the end of October, said principal Henry Diamond.

An event to announce the designation has been scheduled Monday morning with U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, who backed the Pathways proposal at the federal level, and Providence Mayor Angel Taveras, Diamond said.

“We need to be smart about bringing jobs and economic development to Rhode Island and this program can help the state become a magnet for foreign investment,” Reed said in an email statement.

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The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program provides green cards for foreigners who invest at least $500,000 in projects in the United States that produce at least 10 permanent jobs. Nearly all investment in the program, which President Barack Obama’s administration has pledged to expand, comes through regional centers, which are allowed to bundle EB-5 investments and count indirect jobs toward project eligibility. Massachusetts has one regional center, EB-5 Jobs for Massachusetts Inc. in Boston.

Diamond said his firm does not have any specific project lined up at the moment, but is in talks with a number of developers and will likely focus on the medical research sector. Although Pathways is not currently involved in Brown University’s redevelopment of the South Street Power Station, Diamond offered that as an example of the kind of project his regional center would target.

Taveras has suggested EB-5 could be used to finance a Providence streetcar network, while the owners of the Industrial Trust building have indicated they would explore it as a mechanism to restore the now vacant tower.

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