Congress has reached an agreement to revive the EB-5 visa program that allows foreign investors to apply for a green card if they invest in U.S. real estate or a business or project. The program has brought over $40 billion in foreign investment to the United States and was not renewed in 2021. The bill was passed by Congress and enacted on March 12. According to a tweet by the American Immigrant Investor Alliance (AIIA),
“It is our great pleasure to announce that the EB-5 Regional Center program will be reauthorized with the Omnibus on March 15, 2022.”
The EB-5 investor visa program allows investors, their spouses and unmarried children under 21 to apply for a green card (permanent residence) if they:
• Make the required investment in a commercial enterprise in the United States; AND
• Create or preserve 10 permanent full-time jobs for qualified U.S. workers
Under the agreement reached by U.S. lawmakers, investor-visa new applicants will have to:
• invest at least $1,050,000 into an investment project OR
• invest $800,000 in an area with high unemployment, an increase over the current $500,000 investment in a high unemployment area, called targeted employment areas (TEAs) or “infrastructure projects”
• more vetting and reporting requirements
• gives the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) more authority to ensure that the money foreign investors are putting into U.S. projects is ethically sourced
Investor visa applicants whose application is currently pending:
• will not be subject to the new rules
• will not be subject to the higher investment amounts
• the final legislation includes approval of concurrent filings of EB-5 petitions, adjustment of status applications, employment authorization and travel documents
The approved EB-5 program includes:
• grandfathering provisions that will ensure the process EB-5 visa program continues if there is a future EB-5 program lapse, provided the EB-5 petition is filed by September 30, 2026
• the new bill sets aside 20% of total EB-5 visa numbers for investments in rural areas, 10% for investments in high unemployment areas and 2% for investments in infrastructure projects
• provides protection for dependent children aging-out in certain circumstances
• allowing concurrent adjustment of status filings with investor immigrant petitions
• gifts are not limited to familial relations
• if a regional center or new commercial enterprise (NCE) is terminated, there is a procedure to switch projects
• source of funds requirements apply to capital investments, administrative fees and any fees “associated” with the investment
If you have a question about immigrant investor visas or how to qualify an EB-5 green card, contact Mario Godoy and the immigration attorneys at Godoy Law Office in Chicago, Illinois at 630-912-0322.
