Surge is on for EB-5 at $500,000

Many investors are concerned that the EB-5 visa investment amount will increase with the EB-5 statute extension on or before September 30^th. Thus, they are investing now and filing I-526s. We are encouraging people to start the process ASAP, as the new I-526 form is more complex and takes longer to prepare.

EB-5 Extension Bill

Congress is out on its August recess. It will be interesting to see if Congress will pass an EB-5 extension legislation in September with substantial changes, or have another short extension of the current statute.

RAISE Act Proposal

The RAISE Act was introduced by two Senators last week and was supported by Trump. It would replace parts of the family-based and the entire employment-based immigration system we have today, including the EB-5 program. The RAISE Act would create a point system based on age, education, English proficiency, as well as investment, etc.

This proposed bill would allocate points to an intending immigrant if

1. he or she makes an investment of $1,350,000 to $1,800,000 in a new commercial enterprise in the U.S.;
2. maintains the investment for three years;
3. will play an active role in the management of the business;
4. management of the business is the immigrant’s primary occupation.

A similar point system proposal was suggested in 2007 and died quickly. See my Wall Street journal article about that proposed point system at https://www.aboutvisas.com/news_detail.php?id=79.

I know of no one who thinks the RAISE Act point system will be enacted, but we will see.

EB-5 Processing Time

Generally I-526 cases filed before November 22, 2015 that are still pending are beyond the normal “processing times”. We have quite a few approvals for cases that were filed in November and December 2015. And last week, one I-526 was approved that was filed in July 2016! Go figure.