Expected Changes to EB-5 Program

September 21, 2015 -- The EB-5 immigration through investment program, which allows foreign nationals who invest at least $500,000 to $1 million in the U.S. and create ten U.S. jobs to apply for green cards, is set to expire on September 30, 2015. In June, Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) introduced The American Job Creation and Investment Promotion Reform Act, or Senate Bill (SB) 1501, to extend and reform the program, but Congress has yet to agree on changes to the program.

There is still considerable discussion going on about changes to the EB-5 program, but there is some consensus on key issues. In an analysis of opinions on the topic across Congress, Patrick Hogan, President of CMB Regional Centers, which operates EB-5 regional centers in eleven states, wrote that in general, members of Congress believed that the cost of investment should increase, with $800,000 being the most cited figure.

“Grandfathering” of current EB-5 projects and investors was also a common topic of discussion, according to Mr. Hogan, but there was no clear indication how this would occur. Having an I-526 (conditional green card application for immigrant investors) filed under current legislation seemed to be the most likely condition to be grandfathered in. Although SB 1501 mentions grandfathering in EB-5 projects which have an I-924 (regional center application) filed, it is possible that Congress will change this part of the bill due to the flood of hastily submitted I-924’s that USCIS has received recently. Mr. Hogan added that visa allocation is unlikely to change, so family members will continue to be counted toward the 10,000 visa cap along with investors.

It is still unclear when new EB-5 legislation will occur. With only a few legislative days to go before the current EB-5 legislation expires on September 30, 2015, it is highly unlikely that a comprehensive reform bill will pass both houses of Congress before then. It’s possible that the program will be temporarily extended as part of the Continuing Resolution (CR), a bill that will keep parts of the U.S. government open when the budget runs out on Sept. 30. 2015. However, it is even doubtful whether the CR will be passed in time to prevent a government shutdown after September 30.