Monday，March 4, 2019
President Trump signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019 (federal funding bill) on February 15, thus avoiding another government shutdown. The spending bill funds the federal government and extends the EB-5 Regional Center Program authorization through September 30, 2019. EB-5 stakeholders are resuming efforts towards achieving EB-5 reform and long-term re-authorization.
Regulatory Actions Currently Under Review on the list of The Office of Management and Budget shows that the EB-5 Modernization Regulation advanced on Friday 2/22/2019 to the OMB Review stage.OMB Review is the last step in the rulemaking process before publication in the Federal Register.
Below is a summary of the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program Modernization published in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for RIN: 1615-AC07, which was published in January 2017. DHS just spent two years making some kind of changes. Now the most stirring question for all is what will be in the Final Rule.
• Increase the standard minimum EB-5 investment amount to $1,800,000, or $1,350,000 in a TEA.
• A TEA is based on high unemployment and incentivized with 25% reduction to the investment amount (not other factors or incentives as proposed by Congress).
• A TEA can only be designated for a high-unemployment MSA, county, city, single census tract, or limited group of census tracts. DHS, not the states, is responsible for TEA designation.
• Give priority date protection (an investor with an approved I-526 could choose to file a new I-526 while keeping the original priority date, subject to certain restrictions)
• Spouse and children may be able to file I-829 even if not included on the principal investor’s petition.
• Other technical changes.