EB-5 Preparation For Spring

China has been the big EB-5 market. With Chinese New Year on February 8th, business in China is now quiet. This is the time for Regional Centers and developers to finish their projects and prepare their materials for the new EB-5 season.

Last year, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson said that if Congress does not do so, the USCIS would raise the minimum investment from $900,000 to $800,000. The bills proposing to increase the amount failed and the EB-5 statute was extended to September 30, 2016.

For the administration to raise the amount by regulation, USCIS must publish a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register and take comments from the public. Thus it takes a few months to make a rule. The government also issues a notice of the intended rule’s publishing, and there is nothing currently about a raised EB-5 investment amount.

However, Nicholas Colucci, head of USCIS’s EB-5 Program, stated at a Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on EB-5 today that a raise in the investment amount will be included in a regulation USCIS is currently putting together. The consensus is that the investment amount will go up to a minimum of $800,000 this year. Thus, it will probably save investors $300,000 to invest now.

I will report more on the February 2nd Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing shortly.

Attorney Mark Ivener Speaking

I will be speaking at the following upcoming event:

Los Angeles County Bar Association – EB-5 Conference (February 13, 2016)

Processing Times

An I-924 we filed for a new Regional Center was granted in about 9 months, and an I-526 for a direct investor was granted right at the average processing time of 15 months.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!