On 10th of March the United States Congress voted on the Bill that will allow reauthorize the EB-5 Regional Center Program. Note that all negotiations on the topic of EB-5 program stopped in early October 2021. Since then, the program was on a technical pause. So, the EB-5 will be officially reauthorized 60 days from the passage of the Federal appropriations package for FY 2022. The legislation, named the “EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022”, is great news not just for new investors interested to immigrate to the United States, but for the thousands of investor families that have been waiting in limbo due to the sunset of the program in June of 2021.
For high-net-worth investors, the United States Immigrant Investor Program EB-5 visa can be an excellent means of obtaining US conditional resident status, known as a green card, leading to a US passport. 2 years after EB-5-visa conditional resident status is granted, investors and their families become eligible to apply for permanent residency.
The Regional Center Program will be reauthorized through September 30, 2027 (5.5 years). The minimum investment amount will be automatically adjusted for inflation every fifth year beginning on January 1, 2027 for the higher dollar amount, and the lower amount will be calculated at 75% of the higher amount.
Similar to a Citizenship via Investment Program, this EB-5 visa enables high-net-worth individuals with ease of travel, facilitating business immigration to crucial hubs for a variety of businesses and even opening up companies in the US. Investment in USA for citizenship requires no language, educational, or managerial experience; EB-5 visa applicants must meet minimum requirements and qualifications.
The new minimum investment level will be $1.05 million, which will be reduced to $800,000 if the project is located in a qualified high-unemployment or rural area, or is an infrastructure project.
New visa set-asides have been implemented: 20% of all visas will go to investors who invest in projects that qualify as rural, 10% will be reserved for high unemployment areas investments as defined under the new law, and 2% will be for infrastructure projects.
Investors that are already in the United States on another visa can now file their I-526 and their adjustment of status petition (I-485) at the same time.
EB-5 plan to make it work
For now, investors that are interested to move forward with a new regional center investment have 60 days to begin their due diligence on potential investment opportunities. In the next 60 days, investor will need to sign contract with immigration attorney via APEX and make the important decision about project and regional center to work with.
