EB-5 Extension Through Sept. 30thApril 29, 2019
What you should know about the recent EB-5 extension as a potential EB-5 investor
The EB-5 visa program is an immigration program created in 1990 by the U.S. Congress and is permanent law. The regional center program is not permanent though and has to be continually reauthorized by Congress, which has been more than normal lately. As of today, the EB-5 program has been extended through September 30, 2019 under the current rules and requirements. There are many EB-5 practitioners in the industry right now that are fighting to get a long term extension or even make the regional center program permanent. Unfortunately, there is not a clear picture right now showing what could happen between now and the end of September, 2019.
EB-5 Regulations, what could happen?
Since the last EB-5 extension, it has been announced that the draft USCIS regulations for the EB-5 program, originally proposed in January 2017, have made it to the final stage of review with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). If the new regulations are approved by OMB,, they will provide a date in which they become effective. This means normally you will have 30-120 days depending on the effective date to move forward under the current rules of the EB-5 program. Once they take effect, every petition after that date will have to comply with the new rules of the EB-5 program.
No one knows right now what the final regulations will require, but from the original drafted regulations that were introduced almost 2 years ago, the EB-5 program will have significant changes. The proposed minimum investment amounts would increase from $500,000 (if the project is in a TEA) or $1 million, to a much higher amount of $1.35 million and $1.8 million. The draft regulations also included new TEA rules, in which the approval process would go through the USCIS now instead of being up to the individual states.
There are many proposed changes getting thrown around right now, including legislative changes through Congress and regulatory changes through the USCIS. No one knows which will happen first or when, but if you are interested in EB-5 now, you should think about moving forward sooner than later to ensure that you fall under the current laws and requirements.