EB-5 Regional Center Program Extended Until December 21, 2018

The federal government has taken steps to extend the operations of the U.S. government until December 21, 2018. These measures would therefore extend the current EB-5 Regional Center program without changes until December 21, 2018.

Presently, the EB-5 Regional Center program was supposed to expire this Friday, December 7th at midnight. Due to the death of former president George H.W. Bush and the State Funeral in his honor, lawmakers have decided to delay this deadline to December 21st.

The Future of EB-5
The House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate will have to vote on the seven appropriations bills, which includes extending the EB-5 program into 2019, as one omnibus.

Over the past several years, EB-5 has experienced short extension periods, keeping the program’s position in continual limbo. If the program goes through legislative changes for a more permanent resolution, the modifications to the program could be drastic. “The two-week extension offered by Congress will provide a critical opportunity for investors to move forward and file their I-526 petition with USCIS, before USCIS finalizes new regulations or Congress considers legislation to reform the EB-5 program, both of which would increase the minimum EB-5 investment threshold,” said Ignacio Donoso, a partner at Donoso Law, a nationally recognized law firm specializing in immigration.

Find out if you qualify for the EB-5 Regional Center Program before December 21st Now.

It has been contemplated by many that the program could see an increase to the minimum investment levels from $800,000 to $1,800,000. Though the final investment figure has yet to be agreed upon, one thing that can be agreed upon is that an increase in the investment amount will soon occur.

Currently the program allows foreign investors to invest a minimum of $500,000 in a an EB-5 project in the United States. Stephen Yale-Loehr, an attorney at Ithaca, N.Y.-based Miller Mayer LLP, and an immigration law professor at Cornell Law School, “predicts that congress will extend EB-5 again without any changes…maybe in the spring everybody can agree on a reform package that Congress can enact”.

U.S. Immigration Fund will continue to monitor this story closely and provide additional updates as they arise.