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
In July of this year, we wrote about a fraud action involving the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program (“EB-5 Program” or “Program”) (here). Under the EB-5 Program, investors are eligible for permanent residency status in the U.S....more
EB-5 regional centers approved before the enactment of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA) have been given new clarity and mercy about the new Integrity Fee, but they remain in limbo about filing I-956 amendments...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
The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (“RIA”) notes that “[a]n alien seeking to pool his or her investment with 1 or more additional aliens seeking classification under section 203(b)(5) shall file for such classification...more
USCIS has issued meaningful new guidance about some important topics relating to the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA), i.e., the new $20,000 or $10,000 per year regional center (RC) integrity fee, USCIS...more
A targeted effort by a New York company and its president to recruit Chinese investors for a marina and hotel project in Wilmington, North Carolina brought an international spin to one of the Business Court’s regular...more
The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program has gone through significant changes in 2022 due to the enactment of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act (RIA). Created in 1990 to stimulate the U.S. economy through job creation and...more
For most business divorce litigants, a dispositive win on the merits, even in a summary proceeding, can take years. Appraisal proceedings following a cash-out merger, for example, may involve multiple years of difficult...more
An agreement settling litigation against USCIS overturns its initial interpretation of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA) and allows regional centers (RCs) that were designated before RIA enactment to sponsor new...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
EB-5 Regional Center Program reauthorized as part of Omnibus Spending Bill - After having lapsed over the summer of 2021, the EB-5 Regional Center Program (“RC Program”) was reauthorized as part of the Omnibus Spending...more
The Program allows federally authorized “Regional Centers” to pool foreign EB-5 visa applicants’ investments to exponentially fuel U.S. local and regional economies with projects that create and save thousands of American...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
As of June 30, 2021, the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Regional Center Program has lapsed, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has since rejected any submissions received on or after July 1, 2021, of the following...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
On June 22, 2021, Magistrate Judge Jaqueline Scott Corley from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the EB-5 Modernization Final Rule was not lawfully promulgated because the...more