What is NCE?
NCE or New Commercial Enterprise is a term used in EB-5 to determine the entity, partnership, or LLC that EB-5 petitioners invest in. This entity is different from the Job Creating Entity (JCE) in which the NCE invests on behalf of the investors, sometimes in the loan from the NCE to the JCE and sometimes in the form of equity, through which the NCE becomes an equity partner of JCE.
Requirements
The type of business investors or an NCE can invest in has no restrictions as long as it is a new enterprise, or the investment is made into a business which is failing so it can save jobs, but in both cases, the investment must save or create at least ten jobs per investor. Creating an NCE is the easiest way to meet EB 5 Visa requirements. Part of the requirement must be that the enterprise is commercial. USCIS defines commercial enterprise as any which is for-profit and formed for the ongoing conduct of lawful business.
The USCIS provides a list of business entities that are qualified including holding companies, joint ventures, corporations, sole proprietorship, partnership, business trusts, or any other entities that might be privately or publicly owned. Investors can invest in any type of legal business as long as it is a for-profit organization.
Another requirement is that foreign investors should be engaged in the business. To meet the requirement, the investor who is in a direct investment must manage it, whether it would be the decision-making process or daily supervision. This requirement is waived if the investor invests in the project sponsored by EB5 Regional Center. When the investor has met all the requirements, they may qualify for the US EB-5 program.
NOTE: The EB-5 investor can restructure an already existing commercial enterprise but it is important to know that an existing business is not enough to meet the job creation requirement of the EB-5 program.
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