Opinion ID: 783754
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Credibility of Chang's petition

Text: 40 The regulations for the EB-5 program require that, if the alien entrepreneur has not actually created ten full-time jobs at the time of application, the I-526 petition must be accompanied by a comprehensive business plan showing that ... the need for not fewer than ten (10) qualifying employees will result ... within the next two years. 8 C.F.R. § 204.6(j)(4)(B). In the precedent decision In re Ho, INS found that the business plan must be credible. Ho, 1998 BIA LEXIS 29 at , 1998 WL 483979. This rule was applied by the AAO to determine that Chang's business plan was not credible, and that due to this lack of credibility, she had failed to prove the need for ten workers. 41 Although the appellants assert that the credibility determination was based only on a typographical error in one document, the AAO decision details numerous findings that raise questions about the business plan, including: (1) that Chang initially submitted only a four-page business plan with her petition; 6 (2) that Chang twice claimed to plan to purchase a lot from Spencer that had already been sold to another corporation; (3) discrepancies between two sales and construction agreements between FMA and Spencer; (4) discrepancies between the number-of-workers — to — sales-volume ratio proposed by FMA versus Spencer's actual number-of-workers — to — sales-volume ratio; (5) that FMA would be operated out of Spencer's offices; (6) that all of the funds from Spencer's numerous immigrant investors are in one escrow account; (7) that the escrow instructions allow Spencer to begin construction on the lots promised to FMA prior to the close of escrow; (8) discrepancies as to who the escrow agent is; (9) concerns that some of the Chinese language translations provided by Chang were inaccurate; and (10) that monies were deposited in escrow on behalf of FMA before FMA was incorporated. 42 A few errors or minor discrepancies are not reason to question an alien's credibility. See, e.g., Shah v. INS, 220 F.3d 1062, 1068 (9th Cir.2000). Numerous errors and discrepancies, however — especially where INS is evaluating the credibility of a business plan — raise serious concerns about the viability of the enterprise. In this case, the findings catalogued above constitute substantial evidence for the AAO's determination that Chang's business plan was not credible enough to demonstrate the need for ten full-time workers. The denial of the petition on this basis was not arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discretion.