EB5 China Retrogression & Proposed Legislation

EB5 China Retrogression

The cutoff date can be expected no later than June.

PROPOSED EB-5 LEGISLATION

Congressman Polis (D-CO) has introduced a bill in the House of Representatives to permanently extend the regional center program set to expire on September 30, 2015. His bill is called the “American Entrepreneurship and Investment Act of 2015.” If enacted it would:

• Allow “similar” entities to Limited Partnerships as investment vehicles.
• Make TEA letters valid for two years.
• Permit new applications for regional center status based on a “general proposal” but require a consultation from the Secretary of Commerce.
• Require USCIS to establish a “preapproval procedure” for a project “before” any alien files a petition. (If this is mandatory for all new regional center projects, it will greatly slow down the process.)
• Eliminate the need for each I-526 case to file a complete set of regional center documents. (There is already a procedure for such.)
• Allow for “deference” for approval of a project so each subsequent application is not reviewed for project compliance with EB-5 rules. (USCIS says this is their policy, but they do not always follow it.)
• Require 180-day processing of regional center project applications with 30 extra days when there is a Request For Evidence (“RFE”).
• Bar people from owning or running regional centers who have civil or criminal fraud convictions with a term of imprisonment of one year, or violated any law or agency regulation regarding the purchase or sale of a security, engaged in terrorist activities or other illegal activities.
• Set a fee for project preapproval.
• Eliminate the need for accompanying and following to join spouses and children to obtain a “visa number” [this will greatly reduce demand for visa numbers and in effect will triple them].
• Freeze the age of kids under 21 to the filing date on the first I-526 if a second I-526 is filed for a new project.
• Allow concurrent filing of an I-526 and I-485 to adjust status if the investor is in the U.S. and current.
• Change the quota allocation for China. The proposed statute is rather complex on this point and needs to be studied.