Changes and Trends in EB-5 Investment Immigration
Is it the End of the EB-5 World as We Know it? How to Prepare for Potential Changes
The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA) introduced significant requirements for designated EB-5 regional centers, one of the most notable being the annual payment into the EB-5 Integrity Fund. Beginning on October 1,...more
The EB-5 program, officially known as the Employment-Based Fifth Preference Immigrant Investor Program, offers a compelling pathway for foreign investors to gain lawful permanent residency in the United States by investing in...more
The Department of State released the August 2024 Visa Bulletin. USCIS will continue to accept employment-based Adjustment of Status applications based on the Final Action Dates chart. Most Employment-Based Categories hold...more
The Department of State released the September 2023 Visa Bulletin. Most Employment-Based Categories will hold steady with the exception of EB-2 Worldwide and EB-3 China: - USCIS will continue to accept employment-based...more
The Department of State released the July 2023 Visa Bulletin. Most Employment-Based Categories will hold steady with the exception of EB-3 Worldwide, EB-3 India, and Other Workers India: - USCIS will continue to accept...more
After Congress passed the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act in March 2022, USCIS announced that the act repealed the legacy Regional Center Program. Consequently, more than 600 existing regional centers were effectively...more
On April 29, 2022, USCIS held its EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 Listening Session and clarified that entities seeking to be designated as a regional center are required to file Form I-956, Application for Regional...more
Substantial changes are forthcoming for the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program as the omnibus spending bill awaits President Biden’s signature. Aside from proposing $1.5 trillion for annual expenses and aid, the omnibus bill...more
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on January 5, 2022, filed an unopposed motion to dismiss its August 2021 appeal to a district court ruling in Behring Regional Center LLC v. Chad Wolf, et al. The previous ruling...more
As of June 30, 2021, the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Regional Center Program has lapsed, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has since rejected any submissions received on or after July 1, 2021, of the following...more
On June 22, 2021, Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley of the Northern District of California ruled that Former Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan exceeded his statutory authority in issuing the July 2019...more
For the past 4 weeks, the EB-5 industry has been anxiously awaiting the status of the pending complaint filed in the United States District Court in the District of Columbia by a Florida regional center against USCIS and...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a final rule on July 24, 2019, that makes a number of significant changes to its EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program (“EB-5 Program”). These new rules are designed to...more
On November 21, 2019, the EB-5 "Immigrant Investor Program Modernization" became effective. This is the first significant EB-5 regulatory change instituted by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) since 1993....more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has made significant changes to the Immigrant Investor Program (EB-5) through their establishment of new EB-5 modernization regulations. The EB-5 program permits individuals...more
On November 5, 2019, Senators Rounds (R-SD), Graham (R-SC) and Cornyn (R-TX) introduced the Immigrant Investor Program Relief Act (S. 2778) (“Relief Act”). The Relief Act would extend the Immigrant Investor Program (known as...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On July 24, 2019, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the immigration-benefits component of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), published a final regulation on “EB-5 Immigrant...more
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on July 23, 2019 that final regulations will be published on July 24, 2019 making a number of significant changes to the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program effective...more
On July 23, 2019, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) regulations to update the Immigrant Investor Program were published in the Federal Register. The new EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program Modernization...more
USCIS has published its new final rule significantly changing the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program to address concerns about fraud, abuse, and national security risks. The new regulations will become effective on November 21,...more
The Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) completed its review of United State Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) proposed regulations to update the Immigrant...more
The current government shutdown does not affect the vast majority of USCIS’s activities. Their offices are open, and interviews and appointments are proceeding as normal. USCIS continues to accept petitions and applications...more
On March 23, 2018, Congress passed and President Trump signed the Omnibus Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (the “Omnibus Act”), a $1.3 trillion spending bill, as federal funding and the EB-5 program were due to expire....more
There appears to be significant momentum from the Republican contingent in the Senate and the House to pass an EB-5 reform bill entitled, "The EB5 Immigrant Investor Visa and Regional Center Reform Act" (the "Draft Bill") in...more
Congress recently passed and President Trump signed a comprehensive two-year defense spending budget agreement for fiscal years 2018 and 2019 to prevent an extended federal government shutdown. The legislation also contained...more