Proposed EB5 investment and TEA changes

The Regional Center program sunset date has been pushed back to April 28, 2017 by Public Law 114-254, but don’t count on the EB-5 status quo remaining unchanged through April. As I reported before, EB-5 filing fees are increasing from next week, there’s a new EB-5 Policy Manual, and Congress and USCIS might be about to unveil major EB-5 rule changes. USCIS signaled intention to post proposed new EB-5 regulations in the coming month, which could (at record speed) mean a final rule as early as March 2017. Congress reportedly came close to finalizing new EB-5 legislation behind the scenes last month and reportedly plans to introduce a new bill shortly. (USCIS has a history of dragging regulation revisions out over months or years or even decades, and Congress has a packed schedule for Trump’s first 100 days without mentioning EB-5. But still, there’s at least a chance of immanent EB-5 action.)

New regulations from USCIS promise to increase the minimum EB-5 investment amount, revise Targeted Employment Area requirements, clarify regional center designation requirements, and consider priority dates. We’ll have to wait for the proposed rule to learn more detail. (UPDATE: here is the detail.) New legislation promises to address those same issues while also adding new rules  for job creation, project pre-approval, investor source of funds, investor vetting and protections, fund administration, and many aspects of regional center operations.  My Bill Comparison Chart summarizes features from various iterations of proposed EB-5 legislation. (2017 UPDATE: I’ve continued to update the bill comparison chart, and also made a comparison of TEA proposals.) This draft is a version of the H.R. 5992 released earlier this summer, with revisions that show the influence of good sense (clearer presentation, no more deadly retroactive effective dates, fewer practically impossible tasks for USCIS and regional centers) as well as good lobbying by large regional centers (lower fees and better incentives for the major players). This staff draft legislation is unofficial (I received the same document separately from three sources, but without much context, and it’s just a redline with many passages marked for further negotiation), but I’m analyzing it because I hear that a bill based on this document may be  introduced early next year.

1/12/2017 UPDATE: DHS has published its proposed changes to investment amounts and TEAs in a Notice of Proposed Rule-making: EB-5 Investor Program Modernization (DHS Docket No. USCIS 2016-0006).