In a recent Law360 article, Jennifer Hermansky, shareholder in Greenberg Traurig’s Philadelphia office, provides insight on how attorneys can prepare clients for unannounced site visits and questions from the government given the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ recent efforts to step up compliance checks on the EB-5 investor visa program. She shares a few strategies
EB-5 Regulations Summary
As previously blogged (see EB-5 Regulations Published for Public Inspection), the EB-5 regulations have been published as of July 24, 2019, as final, to take effect Nov. 21, 2019. Below is a summary of the changes that will impact the EB-5 program:
- Priority Date Retention: Generally, priority date retention can be retained
New EB-5 Regulations: Winners and Losers
EB-5 Regulations Published for Public Inspection
After more than two and a half years, Obama-era EB-5 immigration regulations are set to be published on July 24, 2019, with an effective date 120 days after publication or Nov. 21, 2019. See EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program Modernization.
These regulations have been opposed by many industry participants, as evidenced in a letter to
OMB Completes Review of Obama-Era EB-5 Regulations
Today, OMB posted that they have concluded their review of the Obama-era EB-5 regulations. On Jan. 13, 2017, the Department of Homeland Security published a notice of proposed rulemaking to significantly raise minimum investment levels and other programmatic changes to the EB-5 program (see related GT EB-5 Insights post here). It is unclear what
Immigrant Entrepreneurship: An American Success Story
On June 4, 2019, the Kenan Institute released a timely policy brief, “Immigrant Entrepreneurship: An American Success Story,” on the value of highly skilled and motivated foreign entrepreneurs to the U.S. economy. The brief states, “When looking at the founding of the United States’ largest startups…[t]he immigrant-founded startups employ an average of more
May 2019 Update on Visa Backlog Times from U.S. State Department
On May 6, 2019, Charles Oppenheim, chief of the U.S. State Department Visa Control and Reporting Division, presented at the IIUSA Conference in Washington, D.C. on the state of visa backlogs for EB-5 immigrant visa applicants. Mr. Oppenheim reported on a number of important issues summarized in this blog.
Between approximately Oct. 1, 2018, and
New Bill Introduced to Use Economic Abilities of EB-5 to Assist Disaster Recovery in Declared National Disaster Areas
On April 9, 2019, Rep. González-Colón (R-PR-At Large) introduced H.R.2173 – a bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to reserve EB-5 visas each fiscal year for investors in new commercial enterprises in areas where a major disaster has been declared by the president.
The bill is not publicly available as of this writing,
EB-5 Capital Redeployment: Top 10 Considerations for Investors When a Project Announces Redeployment
In a June 14, 2017 policy alert, USCIS updated its Policy Manual to provide further guidance regarding capital at risk requirements. Pursuant to the most recent Volume 6 of the Policy Manual, USCIS has confirmed and clarified that an EB-5 investor’s funds must sustain his or her investment “at risk” throughout the two-year conditional
USCIS moves EB-5 Modernization Rule to OMB
On 2/22/19, USCIS forwarded the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program Modernization final rule (RIN 1615-AC07) to the Office of Management
| AGENCY: DHS-USCIS | RIN: 1615-AC07 | Status: Pending Review |
| TITLE: EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program Modernization | ||
| STAGE: Final Rule | ECONOMICALLY SIGNIFICANT: No | |
| ** RECEIVED DATE: 02/22/2019 | LEGAL DEADLINE: None | |
OMB will now begin assessment of the final rule