On June 27, 2019, the Office of Management and Budget announced that it has concluded its review of the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program Modernization Rule.
The Rule (as proposed), would significantly raise minimum investment amounts and change the definition of which geographical locations qualify for “Targeted Employment Area” designations with lower investment thresholds, among other changes. Readers may be familiar with our 2017 coverage of the Rule when it was proposed, as well as our comment to the Proposed Rule which was mostly in opposition to its terms and process.
We now expect the Rule to be published in the Federal Register imminently. However, at the time of this writing, the following key elements of the Final Rule are not clear:
- Its final substantive terms. USCIS received hundreds of comments from industry stakeholders, most of which were in opposition to the terms of the Proposed Rule. USCIS may have taken these comments into consideration and adjusted the proposal accordingly.
- When the Final Rule will be published. We expect it to be printed in the Federal Register at any moment.
- When it will go into effect. According to the government, “When an agency publishes a final rule, generally the rule is effective no less than thirty days after the date of publication in the Federal Register.” Some immigration regulations overhauling visas, however, have taken significantly longer to go into effect.
- What effect the Rule will have on the market. Many industry professionals assume there will be a lag time where USCIS will accept filings based on the current EB-5 rules prior to investment amount increases going into effect. This may accordingly cause a surge in demand as investors seek “grandfathering” under relatively better terms. We stand ready to help prospective investors considering EB-5 if this proves to be true.
This finalization is a rapidly changing development and we will keep readers abreast of the Rule’s implementation. Contact us today with any questions regarding EB-5.
