EB-5 Program Extended To April 28, 2017, at $500,000 Minimum Investment Amount
We are pleased to announce that the EB-5 program has been extended to April 28, 2017, with the minimum required investment amount remaining at $500,000. I would caution anyone who is interested to invest under the EB-5 program, and wants to do so at the $500,000 investment amount, to act quickly because pressure is mounting in Congress to increase the minimum required investment amount from $500,000 to $800,000 along with passing other changes to the program that leading members of Congress believe to be necessary in order to maintain the integrity of the EB-5 program. Some of these changes would create a more restrictive definition of what areas qualify based on the minimum required investment amount, and so future investments would need to be in even more economically depressed, i.e., less desirable and less economically viable areas.
Moreover, USCIS is beginning the process to increase the minimum required investment amount through the regulatory process, which it has asserted in the past that it has the authority to do, and Congress has not refuted this assertion. On November 22, 2016, the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") updated the regulatory agenda for the EB-5 program. According to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, DHS is about to release proposed regulatory changes to the EB-5 program after the beginning of 2017. In that case, given the time frame for the notice and comment period and implementation, the changes would likely take effect in the middle to latter half of 2017. The bottom line is that if you are interested to immigrate under the EB-5 program at the $500,000 investment amount, then you need to proceed now, not later.