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
President Donald Trump recently announced a proposed “Gold Card” visa, sparking speculation about its potential impact on the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. While details remain unclear, this proposal raises important...more
In a significant move to attract wealthy investors, President Donald Trump has floated a new immigration initiative known as the “Gold Card.” The initial announcement indicates that the Gold Card will make the EB-5 investment...more
President Donald Trump has announced that he plans to offer the “Trump Gold Card” to replace the existing EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. The Trump Gold Card Program would allow an investor who is willing to invest $5...more
OVERVIEW - •Speaking to the press on February 25, 2025, President Trump announced an idea for a new “gold card” visa and pathway to citizenship for foreign investors paying $5 million. •Additional information has not been...more
President Trump has stated his intention for the U.S. to offer a “Gold Card” immigrant visa program, potentially within two weeks, which would allow wealthy individuals to purchase a Green Card and a potential path to...more
On October 11, 2023, USCIS published on its web site a new Guidance on numerous aspects of the EB-5 program as affected by enactment on March 15, 2022, of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA). While the guidance...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
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
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has published a draft Form I-956K for public comment with instructions for use by EB-5 securities "promoters," implementing a new and unusual statutory requirement for...more
Following the March 15, 2022 enactment of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (the “Integrity Act” or “RIA”), United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”), a component agency of the Department of...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
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
Prospective EB-5 investors have watched 2019 regulations nearly double minimum investment amounts, only then to see those regulations judicially vacated in 2021 just as the regional center legislation expired on June 30,...more
With regional center legislation expired for now, and almost all investors born in Mainland China having used a regional center sponsorship, there should be nearly zero Chinese investors waiting for an EB-5 visa number and...more
On June 30, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued clear guidance about how it will implement the expiration of the regional center law as of midnight, until any renewal legislation becomes enacted or...more
The EB-5 Regional Center Program will expire at midnight tonight because Congress has not reached an agreement on reauthorization. An attempt by Senators Chuck Grassley and Patrick Leahy to pass the EB-5 Reform and...more
While the news on the EB-5 investor visa appear promising, Congress has still failed to reauthorize the EB-5 regional center program beyond its June 30, 2021, sunset date. Reduced Minimum Investment Amount-... ...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
A magistrate judge in federal court in California seems likely soon to issue an order invalidating the 2019 EB-5 regulations despite current DHS Secretary Mayorkas' recent ratification of same. The probable results: (1)...more
The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program is one that attracts its fair share of attention, not all of it good, and too much of it from organizations named with that part of the alphabet — SEC and DOJ — that can strike fear in the...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
USCIS has updated its Policy Manual to retroactively "clarify" its policy on the parameters for "new commercial enterprises" (NCEs) to "redeploy" capital of EB-5 investors after the capital is returned from the original job...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