Information Seminar - What does the new EB-5 regulation mean and how will it affect me and my investors?

Wednesday, July 31st, 2019, 10:00 am – Enterline and Partners Consulting Office, 1A Cong Truong Me Linh, District 1, HCMC

As you know, the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program Modernization regulation is scheduled to become effective on November 21, 2019. While some of the regulation is very clear, such as an increase to the minimum investment amount to US$900,000 Targeted Employment Area (“TEA”) and in a Non-TEA to $1.8 million, there are still many issues that are not so clear or obvious. 

Join us for an informational seminar where we discuss such issues as:

‘1. What happens to my Project after November 21st? Will it still qualify in a TEA? Can the project obtain funding and complete the project? What happens to existing investors if it fails to do so?

2. What effect will this have on my existing investors who have already filed an I-526 Petition? What if my project changes its offering documents to allow for the increased investment amount?

3. The rush to file petitions before November 21st – what are the risks? Recent USCIS policy in denying incomplete petitions. 

4. Will this regulation actually take effect in November? What might happen between now and then to stop or delay it?

5. How to make sure your investor can qualify for the lower investment amount? What are the potential problems, e.g., timing of investment and using an escrow; is the project still in a TEA?

6. How does the regulation relate to the September 30th sunset of the Immigrant Investor Program?

7. What does it mean to “retain the Priority Date” of an earlier approved petition? Does my investor have to invest more money? At what amount? 

Many of the answers to these questions are not so clear and there are many other questions which have not even been asked. Join us for a discussion of these questions and answers from our experienced EB-5 lawyer David Enterline.

This event is unlimited registration, contact at:

ENTERLINE & PARTNERS CONSULTING
Ad: 3F, IBC building, 1A Cong Truong Me Linh Str, District 1, HCMC.
Tel: 0933 301 488
Email: info@enterlinepartners.com
Website: http://enterlinepartners.com

Regulation change to EB-5 will increase the minimum investment to $900,000

The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program Modernization regulation was published in the Federal Register on July 24, 2019 and this final rule is scheduled to become effective on November 21, 2019. The most significant part of the final rule for investors is an increase to the minimum investment amount. The rule will increase the minimum investment amount in a Targeted Employment Area (“TEA”) from $500,000 to $900,000 and in a Non-TEA from $1 million to $1.8 million. 

Key points of the new regulation are: 

• An increase to the minimum investment amount in a Targeted Employment Area (“TEA”) from $500,000 to $900,000 and in a Non-TEA from $1 million to $1.8 million;
• The Department of Homeland Security / USCIS will have authority to designate TEAs;
• The USCIS will only allow the adjacent census tracts to be used in TEA determination;
• An investor can retain the Priority Date of an earlier-approved EB-5 Form I-526 Petition (“Petition”) for any subsequent approved EB-5 Petition under certain circumstances;
• Cities and towns with a population of 20,000 or more and that are outside of a Metropolitan Statistical Area with high unemployment are added in the TEA designation process;
• Sets a schedule of regularly scheduled adjustments every 5-years to both TEA and non-TEA investment amount.

The changes to the minimum investment amounts and new TEA determination rules should not apply to anyone who filed a Petition prior to November 21, 2019. While the regulation has been published, there is still a possibility that Congress might make legislative changes or that private individuals could challenge the regulations in the courts. The former does not seem likely as Congress has proven unable to have any consensus on new immigration laws and the latter might prove only a temporary postponement of the regulation. 

Anyone who is considering doing EB-5 to immigrate to the United States should give serious consideration to starting the process now in order to file before November 21, 2019. 

Starting on Nov. 21, people between I-526 approval and conditional permanent residence may be able to take advantage of the rule’s new priority date retention provision. (I’m still thinking about how much difference this provision can make, in practice.) Starting on Nov. 21, the I-829 process changes will affect anyone reaching the I-829 stage.

For more information, you can contact us at:

ENTERLINE & PARTNERS CONSULTING 

Ad: 3F, IBC building, 1A Cong Truong Me Linh Str, District 1, HCMC. 

Tel: 0933 301 488 

Email: info@enterlinepartners.com 

Website: http://enterlinepartners.com

August Visa Bulletin - Vietnam Final Action Date Retrogresses

As expected, the Final Action Date for Vietnamese EB-5 investors has retrogressed to match that of mainland-born Chinese. The U.S. Department of State Visa Bulletin for August 2019 now indicates that EB-5 visa applicants from China, Vietnam, and India will be subject to the same Final Action Date of October 15, 2014. 

This is a result of both Vietnamese and Indian EB-5 investors having used up their respective share of the approximately 700 EB-5 visas (the ~7% per country cap) in fiscal year 2019. At this point, any EB-5 visas unused at the end of fiscal year 2019 will be given to Chinese investors waiting in line as of October 15, 2014. 

It is expected that Vietnam and India will remain subject to the same Final Action Date as China in the September 2019 Visa Bulletin. 

Some positive news for Vietnamese and Indian investors; the Final Action Date for those two countries should advance in October 2019 at the start of the new U.S. fiscal year when all countries begin to receive new EB-5 visas allocated for fiscal year 2020.

If you have questions about the EB-5 immigrant investor visa or how visas are calculated, please contact us at

ENTERLINE & PARTNERS CONSULTING
Ad: 3F, IBC building, 1A Cong Truong Me Linh Str, District 1, HCMC.
Tel: 0933 301 488
Email: info@enterlinepartners.com
Website: http://enterlinepartners.com

EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program Modernization Final Regulation has Finished Review at the Office of Management and Budget

On June 27, 2019, the Office of Management and Budget completed review of the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program Modernization final regulation. 

The most significant proposed change for intending EB-5 investors is an increase of the minimum investment amount in a Targeted Employment Area from the current minimum investment of US$500,000 to as high as US$1.35 million. However, it has been speculated that USCIS has made some changes to the original proposed rules and the increase to the minimum investment amount following the responses from stakeholders during the period allowed for comments. The text of the final regulation has not been made public.

In order for this final regulation to become effective, it must be published in the Federal Register. There has been no announcement of when the final regulation might be published. However, once published, a final regulation generally becomes effective no less than thirty (30) days although it would be a longer time frame such as 45, 60 or more days). 

Contact us for information on the EB-5 program:

ENTERLINE & PARTNERS CONSULTING

🏢 3F, IBC building, 1A Cong Truong Me Linh Str, District 1, HCMC.

📞 0933 301 488

📧 info@enterlinepartners.com

🌎 http://enterlinepartners.com