Changes and Trends in EB-5 Investment Immigration
Is it the End of the EB-5 World as We Know it? How to Prepare for Potential Changes
The EB-5 program, officially known as the Employment-Based Fifth Preference Immigrant Investor Program, offers a compelling pathway for foreign investors to gain lawful permanent residency in the United States by investing in...more
The mixed results of their visa programs aimed at attracting foreign investors have some European countries reconsidering, even as the U.S. program continues. In 2022, the United States reauthorized its EB-5 Immigrant...more
1. Choosing the Right Legal Structure - 1.1 Introduction - Establishing a business entity in the United States can be an important strategic step for any international company that wants to avail itself of the...more
Thanks to a final rule recently announced by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), filing fees are about to increase on April 1, 2024, and filers who fail to make haste will end up paying more, or risk...more
The EB-5 immigrant visa investor program has been used as an alternative source of funding for many real estate developers. EB-5 investors have typically preferred real estate related projects, and EB-5 capital has been used...more
After Congress passed the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act in March 2022, USCIS announced that the act repealed the legacy Regional Center Program. Consequently, more than 600 existing regional centers were effectively...more
On April 29, 2022, USCIS held its EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 Listening Session and clarified that entities seeking to be designated as a regional center are required to file Form I-956, Application for Regional...more
1. Choosing the Right Legal Structure - 1.1 Introduction - Establishing a business entity in the United States can be an important strategic step for any international company that wants to avail itself of the world’s...more
Substantial changes are forthcoming for the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program as the omnibus spending bill awaits President Biden’s signature. Aside from proposing $1.5 trillion for annual expenses and aid, the omnibus bill...more
In the evening hours of March 9, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a $1.5 trillion spending bill that would fund the U.S. government through the rest of the fiscal year and provide $13.6 billion to respond to Russia’s...more
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on January 5, 2022, filed an unopposed motion to dismiss its August 2021 appeal to a district court ruling in Behring Regional Center LLC v. Chad Wolf, et al. The previous ruling...more
On June 22, 2021, Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley of the Northern District of California ruled that Former Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan exceeded his statutory authority in issuing the July 2019...more
This week two major events occurred in the EB-5 investment visa program: (1) Congress failed to enact a law renewing the law authorizing regional centers and indirect investment and job creation, which expires June 30; and...more
Following a shift in U.S. presidential administrations and changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Jackson Walker partner Christian Triantaphyllis, who leads the Firm’s Investment Immigration practice, covers some potential...more
The EB-5 Investor Visa was created by an act of Congress in 1993, and it has proved to be a critical driver in American job creation since its inception. By some estimates, the program has brought in over $20.6 billion...more
Last week, USCIS issued significant Policy Guidelines concerning its stipulated attempt to address fairness concerns with coordinating I-526 petition adjudications with U.S. State Department visa allocations. ...more
USCIS has been falling farther and farther behind on adjudication of EB-5 filings. Last week USCIS suddenly announced that, starting March 31, 2020, it will adjudicate first I-526 petitions from investors for whom a visa...more
For the past 4 weeks, the EB-5 industry has been anxiously awaiting the status of the pending complaint filed in the United States District Court in the District of Columbia by a Florida regional center against USCIS and...more
Saul Ewing Arnstein and Lehr LLP has been extremely active in navigating the current status of the EB5 industry and determining what courses of action need to be taken given the existence of the new regulations ("New...more
On November 21, 2019, the new EB-5 Investor Visa Program rules went into effect. That was also the day that the government could have shut down if a spending bill or another continuing resolution had not been approved. It...more
On November 21, 2019, the EB-5 "Immigrant Investor Program Modernization" became effective. This is the first significant EB-5 regulatory change instituted by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) since 1993....more
On November 5, 2019, Senators Rounds (R-SD), Graham (R-SC) and Cornyn (R-TX) introduced the Immigrant Investor Program Relief Act (S. 2778) (“Relief Act”). The Relief Act would extend the Immigrant Investor Program (known as...more
Department of Homeland Security Publishes EB-5 Program Changes - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published rule amendments to the EB-5 investor visa program on July 24, 2019, in the Federal Register. The...more
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has published final regulations that change some of the key features of the EB-5 Program, which makes approximately 10,000 green cards available each year for qualifying investors and...more