Proposed EB-5 Rule in Final Stages - Significantly Increases Investment Amount!
Final USCIS EB-5 regulations is in its final stages and has progressed to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) office for final review. The regulation, known as the “The EB-5 Modernization Regulation" is on its way to be published as a Final Rule. OMB Review is the last step in the rulemaking process before publication of a final rule. It’s anticipated that the Final Rule will go in effect in a couple months.
After OMB review, the Final Rule will be published in the Federal Register and will become effective no less than thirty days after the date of publication in the Federal Register.
Here's a summary of the provisions:
- Increase the standard minimum EB-5 investment amount to $1,800,000, or $1,350,000 in a Targeted Employment Area (TEA)
- Centralized TEA designations
- A TEA is based on high unemployment and incentivized with 25% reduction to the investment amount (not other factors or incentives as proposed by Congress)
- A TEA can only be designated for a high-unemployment MSA, county, city, single census tract, or limited group of census tracts. DHS, not the states, is responsible for TEA designation
- Give priority date protection (an investor with an approved I-526 could choose to file a new I-526 while keeping the original priority date, subject to certain restrictions)
- Spouse and children may be able to file I-829 even if not included on the principal investor’s petition.
More on the rule can be found here.
More on the rule can be found here.
