EB-5 RC Law to Be Extended to March 31, 2017

Congress announced that it will postpone passing a new government funding bill until March 31, 2017, when the new President will take over.  A short-term continuing resolution will soon be passed that will extend the current government funding until March 31^st. It is anticipated that the EB-5 RC program will be part of the continuing resolution and thus the RC law will also be extended to March 31^st. This announcement comes just three weeks before the December 9^th sunset of the EB-5 RC law and the deadline for continued funding of federal agencies and programs.

The final showdown on any EB-5 reform package will likely come before March 31^st. Once that deal is done, whatever it is, I doubt it will be revisited over the next several years. Now is the time to organize and lobby Congress to continue extending the EB-5 program.

More News

Trump has apparently chosen Senator Sessions (R-Alabama) to be the next Attorney General. The Attorney General has a major role in enforcing existing immigration laws and promoting new immigration legislation. After the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, the Attorney General has been less involved in immigration matters. Nevertheless, the Attorney General is involved in all court litigation or behalf of the immigration agencies and will have input on immigration legislation.

Senator Session is an opponent of both legal and illegal immigration (everyone opposes illegal immigration). Because of racist comments, Sessions was turned down for a federal judgeship in 1986. Sessions’ appointment is not good news to say the least.

New I-9 Form

USCIS has issued a new I-9 form for all businesses to verify the identity and work authorization of new employees. RCs should remind developers to use this form for new hires, as USCIS may want to audit RCs and projects and request employees’ I-9s. Here is the link to the new I-9 form: https://www.uscis.gov/i-9

Regards,

Martin