UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA _________________________________________ ) BATOOL SADEGHZADEH, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) Case No. 17-cv-01032 (APM) ) UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP & ) IMMIGRATION SERVICES, et al., ) ) Defendants. ) _________________________________________ ) MEMORANDUM OPINION I. INTRODUCTION Plaintiff Batool Sadeghzadeh, an Iranian national, appeals from the denial of her immigrant investor visa application by Defendant United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“Defendant” or “USCIS”). 1 Plaintiff contends that she submitted ample evidence to show that she qualifies for such a visa based on her investment in a new commercial enterprise in the United States. Finding no violation in USCIS’s decision, the court grants Defendant’s Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment and denies Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment. 1 Plaintiff sued the USCIS and three officials in the Department of Homeland Security in their official capacities. See Second Am. Compl., ECF No. 10 ¶¶ 9–11. For ease of reference, the court refers collectively to the four defendants in the singular as “Defendant.” II. BACKGROUND A. Factual Background 1. The Initial Denial of Plaintiff’s EB-5 Application Foreign nationals who invest a substantial amount of capital in the United States, upon meeting certain qualifications, may receive a priority visa known as an “EB-5” or “immigrant investor” visa. See 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(5). The EB-5 program requires that an applicant invest at least $500,000 in a new or troubled commercial enterprise, see id. § 1153(b)(5)(A)(i), (C); 8 C.F.R. § 204.6(f)–(g), (j), and that the investment create at least ten jobs for U.S. workers, see 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(5)(A)(ii). Applicants must complete the appropriate application, a Form I-526, and provide documentation establishing their eligibility for the EB-5 visa, including the source of the invested funds. See 8 C.F.R. § 204.6(a), (j). As one would expect, funds acquired through unlawful means cannot be put towards securing an EB-5 visa. See id. § 204.6(j) (providing that the applicant must have “invested, or [be] actively in the process of investing lawfully obtained capital”). Plaintiff Batool Sadeghzadeh, an Iranian national, seeks an EB-5 visa. On January 24, 2014, she submitted her Form I-526, claiming eligibility based on her investment of $500,000 2 in a real estate development in Seattle, Washington, known as the “255 South Kin[g] Street Limited Partnership” in August 2013. 3 See Administrative R., ECF No. 23 [hereinafter AR], at 1–7, 978. Plaintiff represented that she financed her investment through the sale of gold coins, rental income from an apartment that she owned with her husband in Iran, and her husband’s income. See AR 8. 2 The memorandum accompanying Plaintiff’s Form I-526 noted that Plaintiff had transferred $539,000 as part of her participation in the 255 King Street Limited Partnership, but that only $500,000 “is considered equity capital” because $39,000 of her money went toward the Partnership’s “syndication fee.” See Administrative R., ECF No. 23, at 7–8. 3 The 255 South King Street Limited Partnership is associated with American Life, Inc., which is a “regional center” under the immigrant investor program. See ...
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