EB-5 Regional Center Extension

Congress extended the EB-5 Regional Center statute with the continuing resolution to September 30, 2017. The statute has been extended a few times in the past couple of years. I think Congress this summer will finally settle on a compromise bill and extend the statute for 3 to 5 years. Thus, I am telling investors that now is the time to invest at the current funding amounts.

EB-5 In The News

The EB-5 program has received considerable news coverage after the President’s son-in-law’s sister appeared at an EB-5 event in China seeking EB-5 funding for a real estate project.

USCIS Proposed Regulations

In January 2017, USCIS issued proposed regulations to increase the EB-5 investment amount in a TEA to $1,350,000 and in other areas to $1.8 million. The government allowed until April 11^th to file comments. About 500 comments were received. The USCIS person in charge of the regulation says she will finish her review of the comments by July 21^st. We will see whether Congress or USCIS acts first to raise the investment amount.

USCIS Mail Messages

USCIS sends receipts for I-526 applications to the attorney of record and the investor. Often, the mail to the investor abroad is not delivered and is returned. The USCIS website then contains a note that the last action is return of the undelivered mail. This often worries the investor. Even when our office tells USCIS the investors’ postal address is correct, their online system does not change. This is common and should not worry the investor. Our office will receive notification from USCIS of any decision.