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USCIS Confirms Validity of Previously Designated EB-5 Regional Centers

Jul 8, 2022 | Investor Visas

More Clarification Needed from USCIS to Overcome Uncertainties Related to Impact of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act

BREAKING: The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has confirmed that there was no lapse in EB-5 Immigrant Investor Regional Center authority from July 1, 2021, to March 15, 2022, and that pre-existing regional centers remain valid as of today. 

USCIS also stated that entities seeking to be designated as a new regional center are required to file Form I-956, Application for Regional Center Designation.

It appears that USCIS will provide a Q&A regarding new I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur filings in the near future.  WR Immigration attorneys hope USCIS provides clarification on whether new immigrant investors can file Form I-526s for investments in “exemplar approved” projects without an I-956F, Application for Approval of an Investment in a Commercial Enterprise receipt notice. 

WR Immigration attorneys believe the plain language of the new EB-5 law does not require this but it’s unclear how USCIS will interpret. As such from a conservative point of view, WR Immigration recommends that regional centers submit a Form I-956F so immigrant investors have one less gray area of concern regarding this rapidly-changing new landscape of EB-5. 

This time is unprecedented in EB-5 history where there are so many unknowns and uncertainty about how USCIS plans to operate the immigrant investor program.  WR Immigration attorneys are hopeful that new Immigrant Investor Program Office Chief Alissa Emmel can focus USCIS’s efforts in administering a robust, predictable, and efficient residency by investment program in EB-5 that prioritizes customer support and meaningful feedback to EB-5 stakeholders.

After over a year of waiting, a new EB-5 Regional Center program has now been launched and the big difference is instead of waiting 2-3 years for a period approval, certain people lawfully in the U.S. can now file one-step concurrent adjustments and immigrant investors from China, a backlogged category, can leap to the front of the line using the new rural reserved priority processing fast track lane, and the new high unemployment/infrastructure express lanes. With these new options, people lawfully in the U.S. can file an adjustment of status and obtain an unrestricted work permit within months of filing. 

Stay tuned to WR Immigration for the latest EB-5 news. For any EB-5-related question, please contact WR Immigration Partners Bernie Wolfsdorf or Joey Barnett.

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EB-5 Investor Program — January 2022 Update

Yesterday, the U.S. government filed an “Unopposed Motion for Voluntary Dismissal” in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on their appeal of a June 2021 decision of a lower district court that invalidated the implementation of the November 2019 EB-5 Modernization Rule. That rule had raised the minimum investment amount from $1 million to $1.8 million and, from $500,000 to $900,000 for targeted employment areas (TEAs). Reducing the investment amount is welcome news for the EB-5 industry that has been stymied by this regulation. Most importantly, this withdrawal of appeal confirms the minimum investment for investors who create ten jobs in a Targeted Employment Area (TEA) is back to $500,000.  It also confirms that states have the authority to designate areas as a TEA.  This decision has no impact on the reauthorization of the EB-5 Regional Center program. EB-5 investors should know this dismissal does not impact the two biggest issues in EB-5, that is the Regional Center  reauthorization, or whether USCIS will continue to hold pending Regional Center I-526s or I-485s in abeyance until reauthorization. We hope to have some news on these two issues soon, so stay posted. At this time, “direct” EB-5 remains an […]

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