Congress narrowly avoided a government shutdown by passing temporary funding legislation at the end of last month that kept the federal government running through Dec. 9. In that legislation, Congress also included a provision to continue the EB-5 Regional Center Program also until Dec. 9. That gave Congress time to review the program.
The EB-5 Regional Center visa program allows a foreign national and her or his family to get green cards by investing $1 million in a regional center that creates at least 10 full-time jobs. If the regional center is located in a rural or high unemployment area, a foreign national only needs to invest $500,000. The job requirement remains the same. A regional center is a business—often a real-estate project—approved by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
Currently, USCIS is issuing EB-5 regional center visas to foreign investors from all countries except China, according to the November 2016 Visa Bulletin.
New EB-5 Program?
After next month’s presidential election, Congress may reform the EB-5 program.
Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) have pushed for changes to the program for years. Sen. Grassley serves as the chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Sen. Leahy is the committee’s ranking member. They contend fraud and the gerrymandering of EB-5 zones have diverted the program’s economic benefits away from the intended rural and distressed areas of the country. Instead, projects in well-off neighborhoods, such as in Manhattan and Miami, have benefitted.
House Bill
A bill introduced last month called the American Job Creation and Investment Promotion Reform Act (H.R. 5992) aims to reform the EB-5 Regional Centers program. Introduced by House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Ranking Member John Conyers (D-Mich.)—and supported by Sens. Leahy and Grassley—the bipartisan bill would reauthorize the program for five years and make many of the same changes to the program proposed last year.
The legislation would:
- Require petitions filed on or after June 1, 2015, to meet the provisions of the new law.
- Raise the minimum investment level in a regional center to $1.2 million—or $800,000 for one located in a high unemployment or rural area.
- Redesignate many of the high unemployment areas that qualify for the program.
- Increase the USCIS petition fee to $2,000 from $1,700.
- Set aside a maximum number of visas under the EB-5 regional center program: 2,000 for distressed urban areas and 2,000 for rural areas.
- Allow defrauded investors to revise their petitions and retain their priority date. Any non-EB-5 funds recovered could be used to create the required jobs.
Applying this proposed legislation retroactively to previously filed petitions strikes me as utterly unfair. Most investors who use the EB-5 regional center program only invest $500,000. Changing the requirements would jeopardize the green card process for these investors.
Questions?
If you have questions about the EB-5 program or need help with other visa or green card options, contact our office.
