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EB-5 TRANSFORMATION RULE CHANGE IN INVESTMENT AMOUNT FOR GREEN CARD
It has been stated that the Biden administration’s defense of a Trump era rule change seems to have been shot down by U.S. Magistrate Judge Jaqueline Scott Corley. The rule change raised the EB-5 visa program’s minimum investment amounts for the Targeted Employment Area (TEA) from $500,000 to $900,000 and from $1 million to $1.8 million into non-targeted areas. Judge Corley stated that she did not believe secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, appointed under President Joe Biden’s administration, can approve the rule change.
On 13th May hearing a live video Judge Corley continually challenged U.S. Department of Justice attorneys to explain why she should not grant summary judgement to Behring Regional Center, which would end the EB-5 rule change. The Behring Regional Center, a USCIS accredited EB-5 regional center that sponsors projects using funds from EB-5 investors, sued the government in December 2020 in response to the Trump-era EB-5 rule change.
Judge Corley clarified that her understanding of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, which limits who can attend in an acting role and the length of time they can serve, does not support the former acting secretary’s changes to EB-5 visa investments. Judge Corley said the Federal Vacancies Reform act did not give him authority to sign the rule change.
If the court strikes down the regulation it will bring the otherwise dormant program back to life. The investors are not ready to invest $900,000 into targeted employment areas, or $1.8 million into non-targeted areas, except they can be sure they will get their green cards in a reasonable time and their investment returned.” The EB-5 program has been overwhelmed with backlogs and processing delays.
Also the removal of the new restrictive clarification of targeted employment areas and this will provide a broader range of projects for investors. If the rule is blocked it would result in the restoration of $500,000 EB-5 minimum investments and an ease in TEA designation rules.
WINDOW OPEN UNTIL 30th JUNE 2021: If successful, any changes would likely be short-lived since the EB-5 Regional Center Program is set to expire at the end of June 2021 and a reform and reauthorization proposal has started working its way through Congress could set the USD 900,000 minimum investment level. It is our opinion that the new EB-5 law in June would be revised to increase the price back to it’s current level.
Therefore, it looks clear that applicants will have an extremely short window of time, possibly as little as days, in which to file an EB-5 I-526 Petition at USD 500,000. Properly preparing a case to be filed can take weeks or longer depending on where the funds are coming from and will require investors to fund an EB-5 project which is arranged to receive investment at that investment level.
Any investor potentially interested in availing themselves of the USD 500,000 investment level should therefore have their case ready so it can be filed at a moment’s notice.
REGIONAL CENTER / EB-5 PROGRAM: The Regional Center (RC) Program is a Pilot Program. EB-5 program is permanent, not the RC Program. We are hoping for a long term reauthorization. EB-5 is dissociated from the rest of immigration reform.
CURRENT LAWSUITS TO INVALIDATE THE REGULATIONS: The two lawsuits ongoing in District of Columbia one in California. The program has dropped drastically after the amount was increased for the TEA determinations and from $500,000 to $900,000. Presently the District of Columbia is ongoing and California lawsuit is progressing quickly.
Hearing last week looks like the Judge is poised to rule by the end of next week and possibility for the program to be back to $500,000. So, it may be that anyone who wants to file with $500,000 needs to do so ASAP. If anyone wants to hope to file with a $500,000 level, time is truly of the essence.
GRASSLEY LEAHY BILL: This has been jolting around since 2015. We are looking for an overall reform that includes oversight of new projects, added visa numbers, faster adjudications and the current Bill does not include this.
Bilimoria & Associate is specialised in Immigration visas with 25 YEARS experience. Bilimoria & Associate has experience in lodging successful EB-5 application towards obtaining Green card to USA. We have projects that have an exemplar approval from USCIS.
Our expertise has undertaken over a billion dollars in projects, and have raised more than $300 Million in EB-5 investment and have completed almost 38 different projects in the last 10 years and have processed many EB-5 investor applications with 100% success rate.
Bilimoria & Associate liaisons with the Member of Oregon State Bar Association and Attorney in good standing, USA (OSB) and also liaisons with member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) towards preparation of a successful application for EB-5 visa.
Please contact us to learn more about the current EB-5 projects and towards lodgment of your Green card and Permanent Residency to the USA!!
You can write to us to assess your eligibility at: neville@bilimoriaassociate.com (or) contact us +91 44 2822 7222 / 2823 9229 / 4350 8191 between Monday – Saturday, 10.30 am to 5.30 pm. You can also fix an appointment with our office to meet us in person to discuss your eligibility.