By June 2021, The Issue Of The EB-5 Investment Program Will Be Resolved
/The EB-5 Investor Program was first adopted in 1992 and has been regularly updated since then. “Under this program, investors can qualify for EB-5 classification by investing through regional centers designated by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services based on proposals to increase investment. The investor must invest a minimum of US$1.8 million or US$900,000 in the targeted employment area."
“The investor must invest in a new commercial enterprise that will create full-time positions for at least ten qualifying employees. The enterprise can create jobs either directly or indirectly. Investors can also invest in a troubled business, which is an enterprise that has been in existence for at least two years and has incurred a net loss during the 12- or 24-month period before the priority date of the immigrant investors. As an incentive to the investment and the resulting creation of jobs, the foreign investor and their derivatives will get Legal Permanent Resident status, leading to the ability to naturalize as United States citizens." - writes natlawreview.
In the most recent consolidated appropriation bill, passed when Donald Trump was president, the automatic approval of the EB-5 program was canceled. Therefore, this year, Congress must approve the program and determine its fate.
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) co-sponsored the bipartisan Reform and Integrity Act EB-5. The changes that the bipartisan legislation will bring include the following:
Extend the program until September 2024
Increase the authority of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to deny or stop filing claims related to fraud, criminal abuse, or a threat to public or national security.
Establish an "EB-5 Integrity Fund" to which regional centers and investors will pay contributions to be used by DHS to conduct audits and site visits and to investigate fraud.
Require background checks of the regional center and project managers
Require investors to disclose more information about business risks and conflicts of interest
Demand more project oversight and tighter enforcement of securities requirements
The national trade association Invest In the USA, which represents over 200 EB-5 investments, recently gathered 425 supporters in support of the bill. The bill received support from the hospitality and residential sectors, the real estate industry, national and local chambers of commerce, economic development organizations, and mayors of 19 states.
