Client Payment Portal

Bloomberg Article: Revival of the EB-5 Visa Program

Sep 20, 2022 | Investor Visas

The EB-5 visa program coveted by many wealthy overseas investors is being revived after changes aimed at curbing abuses.

The EB-5 visa program has attracted $37 billion in foreign investments since 2008 and the queue of wealthy applicants from China to India is growing.

Earlier this year, the Biden administration signed a law that steps up audits and site visits to deter fraud, while also creating a path for some to skip the backlog of cases if they’re willing to invest in rural areas or places with high unemployment. Roughly 100,000 EB-5 visa applicants with some $15 billion in committed investments had been in limbo since the program lapsed, trade group Invest in the USA estimates.

The fresh rules are unleashing pent-up demand. Bernie Wolfsdorf, WR Immigration’s Managing Partner and a former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said his firm has been working overtime and hiring new staff to adjust to demand from countries like India, which has eclipsed the number of petitions filed from China. Drawing such investors could help prevent a brain drain, since many wealthy emigrants’ children study at top US schools, he said.

Read the entire Bloomberg article here.

Related Posts:

October 2023: 5 New Things to Know About EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visas

By: Joseph “Joey” Barnett There has been a lot of activity in EB-5 in the past month, including updated policy guidance by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) and visa processing information from the U.S. Department of State (“DOS”). Here are five new things to know about EB-5 in October 2023. 1. Sustainment Period USCIS issued guidance interpreting the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (the “RIA”) to indicate that, for investors who file the new Form I-526E after the RIA, the sustainment period – the amount of time EB-5 investment capital must remain “at risk” – is only 2 years from the date that “the full amount of qualifying investment is made to the new commercial enterprise and placed at risk under applicable requirements, including being made available to the job creating entity, as appropriate.” This may drastically change the EB-5 market, as USCIS appears to no longer require that the investor sustain their investment throughout the entire conditional residence period, even if the applicable regulations at 8 C.F.R. § 216.6 appear to still require it. For pre-RIA investors, the “sustainment” period remains the first two years of conditional residency. This guidance may be welcomed by some investors […]

Read More

Biden Administration Implements New Actions to Increase Opportunities for STEM Students, Professionals, Others

WR Immigration Attorneys Charina Garcia, Melissa Harms, and Nate Grow addressed these changes in detail in a webinar, which is available on demand now! The Biden administration announced new actions to increase opportunities in the United States for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students and professionals, among others. A White House statement said the new actions are intended to “advance predictability and clarity for pathways for international STEM scholars, students, researchers, and experts to contribute to innovation and job creation efforts across America. These actions will allow international STEM talent to continue to make meaningful contributions to America’s scholarly, research and development, and innovation communities.” According to the Department of State (DOS), in 2020, international students contributed more than $39 billion to the U.S. economy and supported an estimated 410,000 jobs in cities and towns across the United States. “U.S. entities and businesses gain a competitive edge in our global economy with the perspectives and skillsets of international students and scholars, particularly in the STEM fields,” DOS said. Below are highlights of the new actions announced by the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and DOS: DHS Initiatives DHS added 22 new fields of study to the STEM optional practical […]

Read More