The changes affect EB-5 applicants who are waiting to file their I-485 adjustment of status application. By Blake Harrison, Senior Counsel, Investor Visa Practice On March 15, 2022, President Biden signed long-anticipated EB-5 reform measures into law.  One of the most significant changes under the new law is the ability to file Form I-526 and Form I-485 at the same time, which is commonly referred to as “concurrent filing.”  Before the EB-5 Reform Bill was enacted, EB-5 investors had to wait for their I-526 petitions to be approved before filing for adjustment of status.&n ..read more

The EB-5 Regional Center program lapsed last summer pending reauthorization by the United States Congress. Potential reauthorization could come as early as this week if it is combined with spending legislation due to be passed before this Friday, 11 March. If EB-5 Regional Center reauthorization is added to the spending bill, and if the spending bill is passed, the EB-5 program will return, but with likely new rules. What are the likely new EB-5 rules? The most significant change in a reformed EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa Program would be the investment amounts. The minimum investment requir ..read more

The impact of the changes are being felt at different stages of the process, with greater leniency surrounding the I-829 process. USCIS is extending the time that a receipt notice can be used to show evidence of lawful permanent resident status from 18 months to 24 months to take account of increased processing times for Form I-829. What does this mean in practice? When you file your Form I-829, USCIS will send you a Receipt Notice in the mail. That Receipt Notice, when presented along with your expired Green Card, provides proof of your lawful permanent resident status (for purposes su ..read more

A large chunk of last year’s quota is going to waste, but there is likely to be a rollover from this year’s unused quota By Tishita Agarwal A recent report suggested that close to 100,000 employment based visas, or green cards, are liable to go to waste if they are not issued by the end of the month. A green card, or US Permanent Residency, is issued to show the bearer can reside permanently in the United States. The quota for this year’s employment-based visas is set at 261,500 – much higher than the usual cut-off of 140,000 because of overspill from last year’s allocation that was not use ..read more

The minimum investment level for the EB-5 visa remains at $500,000 for now, but the appeal is a clear signal the Biden administration is intent on increasing the price. The US government filed a last-minute appeal against a federal court ruling that reversed Trump-era changes to the EB-5 Visa investment thresholds. A federal judge in California ruled in June that a decision to increase the minimum investment level from $500,000 to $900,000 in November 2019 was unlawful because the head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had been improperly appointed. The Biden administration is now ..read more

We are anticipating the potential return of the EB-5 Visa Regional Center program at the end of September. It has been suspended since the end of June when the program lapsed. Congress was unable to agree to a reform and reauthorization bill. So the expectation is that it may be rolled back into the consolidated spending bill due by September 30. The EB-5 visa program had been deliberately separated from this must-pass spending legislation last year in the hope that Congress would grapple with long-needed reform. For example, the need to bring more integrity to the EB-5 program and stamp out f ..read more

Did you know that the Direct EB-5 Program remains open to new investors at the $500,000 minimum investment amount?  But hurry. The time to file at this lower rate is likely to be limited.  The EB-5 Regional Center program has lapsed because Congress was unable to agree a unanimous vote to reauthorize before the July 4th recess. We expect Congress will reauthorize the program, although the exact timing of this is uncertain. Unlike the Regional Center program, Direct EB-5 is permanently authorized and remains open to new investors. Because of a recent court ruli ..read more

By Mark I. Davies, Global Chairman, Davis & Associates On June 30th, 2021 the EB5 Regional Center Program expired and USCIS stopped accepting new I526 Petitions for processing.  At the same time USCIS continued to accept EB5 petitions for Direct EB5 applications at the USD 500,000 level. While USCIS have stopped processing EB5 Regional Center Petitions and related I485 Petitions the processing of Direct EB5 and related Petitions continues.  With work having stopped on EB5 Regional Center files it seems a reasonable assumption that the processing time for EB5 Direct cases will ..read more

The EB-5 Regional Center Program expired at midnight last night. We expect this to be a temporary lapse as Congress negotiates how to reform the program. What does this mean for EB-5 investors in the Regional Center Program? It depends where you are in the process… 1. Anyone applying for EB-5 through Regional Center Program from today: Your application will be rejected 2. Anyone who has filed form I-526 prior to the deadline but not yet received an adjudication: Your application will not be rejected, but USCIS will not work on your case until further notice 3. Anyone who has filed an I ..read more

Statement from Mark I. Davies, Global Chairman, Davies & Associates  A federal judge ruled last night that one of the heads of the Department of Homeland Security under President Trump was not properly appointed, thus invalidating the EB-5 price increase from USD 500,000 to USD 900,000 in November 2019. Within hours of the court decision, our firm received scores of inquiries from potential EB-5 investors who are hoping to avail themselves of the opportunity to invest in an EB5 qualifying project at USD 500,000.   While a window now potentially exists until June 30th when ..read more