Eb-5 Visa Investment Level Increase

EB-5 Investor Visa Reauthorization in June 2021. What you need to know.




The EB-5 Regional Center program is facing reauthorization in June 2021. This has resulted in some uncertainty for current and future clients. Although we do not predict issues for people who file before June 30, there are ways to mitigate your risk:


1. If you are a D&A client, your case was recently approved and you reside outside of the US, we have already contacted the EB-5 unit at USCIS asking them to expedite the transfer of your file to the NVC so that visa processing can begin as soon as possible 

2. If your case was recently approved and you live in the US, we should file your Adjustment of Status application as soon as possible  

3. If your Form I-526 petition is still pending, you may wish to consider a Writ of Mandamus (more on this below)

Click here to learn more about the EB-5 Investor Visa
Click here to contact us to discuss your case directly

Background to Current EB-5 Situation

The EB-5 Regional Center program is currently authorized on a temporary basis.  This means that the program is authorized for a discrete period of time and then it expires unless the temporary authorization is extended.

The EB-5 RC Program is currently authorized through June 30, 2021.  This June 30 date is different than those prior authorization end dates because this is the first time that the EB-5  Program authorization is not tied in with the Federal budget appropriations bill.  In the past, when the budget bill would pass, it would mean the EB-5 RC Program would automatically be extended.  In December 2019 Congress decoupled the EB-5 RC Program authorization from the budget, so that means Congress needs to pass a separate bill to extend the EB-5 RC program.  
 
Senators Grassley and Leahy have a bill drafted that will extend the EB-5 RC Program permanently but it will need receive the approval votes of a majority of Senators to pass.  We are optimistic that it will pass in some format and thus there will be no interruption in the EB-5 RC Program.  However, until it passes, there is obviously some uncertainty on what might happen after June 30.  

USCIS has not given any clarity about what will happen (1) if there is a gap between June 30 and when a new EB-5 RC law is passed or (2) if Congress never passes a new EB-5 RC law and the EB-5 RC Program authorization permanently expires on June 30.  

Our View on Reauthorization of EB-5 RC Program

We are optimistic that in the scenario where there is a gap in time between June 30 and when a new law is passed it will not impact any EB-5 petitions that were filed prior to June 30, 2021.  There have been periods of time in the past when the federal budget did not pass in a timely manner and thus the EB-5 RC Program experienced short periods when it was unauthorized—those short periods of time when the EB-5 RC Program experienced a gap in authorization did not have any impact on the EB-5 applications that were pending with USCIS at the time.  We are also optimistic that even in the unlikely event that Congress never passes a new law that reauthorizes the EB-5 RC Program that USCIS will continue to process all EB-5 related benefits for those who had pending or approved Form I-526 petitions as of June 30.

IIUSA’s View on EB-5 RC Program Reauthorization

In the last two weeks a well-known and respected EB-5 lawyer presented IIUSA’s view on the EB-5 RC Program reauthorization. This view is that if the EB-5 Regional Center Program is not reauthorized, then anyone who is not in the United States on a “conditional green card” on June 30, 2021 will have their EB-5 application terminated and will then have to re-apply all over again (probably with fresh funds) if and when the program comes-back.

How This Impacts My Case

1.         What if I have not filed my EB-5 petition (I-526) before June 30, 2021?:

If the program is allowed to expire in June 2021, then you will be unable to obtain a U.S. green card through the EB-5 RC Program and you would have to wait to see if the EB-5 RC Program is brought back in the future.


2.         I have filed an I-526 but it is awaiting adjudication:

Although the risk may be small, under the IIUSA view your case would be terminated and you would have to make a fresh application in a new project in the future.



3.         I have an I-526 approval but I am awaiting a consular interview:

In this circumstance we believe that the risk to you is lower, although under the strict IIUSA view your case would still be terminated.
 

Writ of Mandamus

 If your Form I-526 petition is still pending, you may want to file a complaint against USCIS in Federal court as soon as possible to ask the court to issue a Writ of Mandamus (WoM) that will order USCIS to make a speedy decision on your case.  Please contact us if you would like to discuss this Writ of Mandamus option further.

While our firm has traditionally counselled clients that there is no guarantee with a WoM and that filing a WoM may in fact have no impact on their I-526 case until the I-526 filing has been pending for two years, the June 2021 reauthorization issue changes our views of the risks involved. Please note, filing a WOM requires an additional fee to be paid. 


Please note, EB-5 applications related to direct investment in a company (meaning NOT done through a Regional Center) are not impacted at all by this June 30 reauthorization date.Copyright © *2020* *Davies & Associates*, All rights reserved.


 This article is published for clients, friends and other interested visitors for information purposes only. The contents of the article do not constitute legal advice and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Davies & Associates or any of its attorneys, staff or clients. External links are not an endorsement of the content.

March Visa Bulletin Analysis: EB-5 Visa Wait Times Explained

February Visa Bulletin Analysis: EB-5 Visa Wait Times Explained

The Department of State has issued its February Visa bulletin detailing the latest shifts in the Final Action Dates for the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa Program among other employment and family-based visas.

For EB-5, the February Visa Bulletin looks much the same as the January Visa Bulletin. As in January, the only change over the previous month is a two week progression in the Final Action Dates of Vietnamese applicants from September 15, 2017 to October 1, 2017. The Final Action Date for Chinese applicants has, once again, remained static on August 15, 2015.

All other countries are listed as “C” or current. This continues to include India, which had been subjected to an EB-5 visa waiting list known as “visa retrogression” as recently as July 2020.

What this means is that there is expected to be an EB-5 visa available in the current annual quota for anyone born outside China and Vietnam. This means an applicant can progress immediately with their EB-5 application.

The reason for the waiting list is that the number of EB-5 Investor Visas available is limited to just over 700 visas per country per year. Your EB-5 quota is determined by your country of birth. So if your country of citizenship has changed since birth, your eligibility is still determined by where you were born and not where you currently live.

Priority Dates

EB-5 applicants are issued with a priority date, which is the date at which their application was received by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

For Chinese and Vietnamese applicants, if your priority date is after the date listed under your country in the visa bulletin, you must continue to wait. Eventually the date listed in the visa bulletin will move to a point at which you can proceed with your application. For example, the latest movements of two weeks in Vietnam would affect a small number of applicants who have their priority dates in a two-week window between September 15, 2017 and October 1, 2017.

The dates listed in the visa bulletin can move backwards as well as forwards. The dates are calculated upon assumptions and an averaging of current demand, success rates, and the numbers of visas per application.

For example, one application can include multiple family members each requiring their own visa. In an extreme scenario, an applicant might have a spouse and ten children. That would mean one application would take up 12 of the visas available in the annual quota.

The new administration of President Biden is looking at whether it is feasible to separate dependent family members out of the annual quotas. This would quickly make a dent in the waiting lists.

Date for Filing

The visa bulletin also contains a second set of dates called “Dates for Filing”. This is when you could submit a visa application to the National Visa Center even though there is not yet expected to be a visa available. This is partly to provide some preparation time, but is especially aimed at applicants already living in the U.S. on other visas filing an Adjustment of Status (AOS). Under such circumstances this may have an impact on the applicants ability to continue working legally in the United States.

There was not change to the Date for Filing from the previous month. People from Vietnam can progress ahead, but the date for filing for China-born applicants remains static at December 15, 2015.

Final Action Dates February Visa Bulletin

EB-3 Visa for Highly Skilled Workers

Indians are the main group affected by a waiting list for the EB-3 visa category for highly-skilled workers. The EB-3 is the immigrant (permanent residency) counterpart to the H-1B Visa. Progress remains glacial with little more than a one-week forward movement for Indians from March 22, 2010 to April 1, 2010. The only other country facing visa retrogression is China which moved from December 15, 2017 to January 1, 2018.

The long delay to Indian EB-3 is one of the reasons behind proposals by the Biden administration to remove country caps for employment-based visas. This will significantly assist Indians in the EB-3 Visa category and Chinese in the EB-5 Visa category. This would be great news for applicants who have been queuing for years, but could subject new applicants to long delays.

The annual quota system does not take account of population size. So China and India, with the world’s first and second largest populations, have the same quota as Liechtenstein and San Marino, with fewer than 40,000 inhabitants each. This, combined with a long history of emigration to America, explains why China, India and Vietnam feature so heavily in the Visa Bulletin.


This article is published for clients, friends and other interested visitors for information purposes only. The contents of the article do not constitute legal advice and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Davies & Associates or any of its attorneys, staff or clients. External links are not an endorsement of the content.