RC Reauthorization to 1/19/2018, visa numbers, legal actions, RC list changes
December 14, 2017 7 Comments
Countdown to Regional Center Program Reauthorization
- 12/22: President Trump has signed the continuing resolution H.R. 1370, which means that the regional center program is now extended together with other authorities to January 19, 2018. (See Congress.gov for the text of the enrolled bill H.R.1370, now Public Law No 115-96.) I also notice that the White House website has been reorganized to highlight immigration as a key issue. The new White House immigration page emphasizes these priorities for the administration: constructing a border wall, ensuring the swift removal of unlawful entrants, ending chain migration, eliminating the Visa Lottery, and moving the country to a merit-based entry system.
- 12/21: The House and Senate have passed a Continuing Resolution that replaces the expiration date in previous legislation with “January 19, 2018,” and doesn’t include any language that would exclude regional center program authorization. See the House Appropriations Committee news release for the text of House Amendment to the Senate Amendment to H.R. 1370.
- 12/20: The content of a Continuing Resolution through 1/19 is still under negotiation.
- 12/18: Nothing settled yet on the next stopgap funding measure, which will have to fight with tax reform for attention this week. The Senate Appropriations Committee may come up with its own proposal to compete with the House proposal. Senator Cornyn indicates that the Senate bill would also be through January 19, but may include some different provisions.
- 12/13: Yesterday the House Appropriations Committee introduced H.J.Res 124 – a Continuing Resolution that would temporarily extend federal funding and maintain current federal operations (currently authorized to December 22) until January 19, 2018. Basically, it’s a clean extension that just switches out expiration dates: “SEC. 101. The Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018 6 (division D of Public Law 115–56) is further amended—7 (1) by striking the date specified in section 8 106(3) and inserting ‘‘January 19, 2018.’’ The 250 pages of miscellaneous additional provisions (defense appropriations, CHIP extension, etc.) do not mention EB-5 or move to separate RC program authorization from continued government funding. This bill is just barely out of committee, not enacted yet, but I’ll add updates as I hear news ahead of the 12/22 deadline.
- 12/8: IIUSA members will be happy to note that the association has decided to tell us its 2017 Policy Platform and comments on the draft legislative framework. Now to see if we’ll be asked for our opinion on the policy positions someone has formulated. Probably not, since the hard-won industry unity depends on a narrow base. UPDATE: IIUSA has sent an email to members with the invitation “Please contact advocacy@iiusa.org with any comments or questions” on the IIUSA policy framework.
- 12/8: IIUSA did the right thing with a stern statement on Marketing Hypothetical EB-5 Reform Outcomes as Certainties. Prospective investors take note: do not rest your current EB-5 decision on the possibility of visa set-asides in hypothetical future legislation. We have no assurance that a set-aside proposal will ever be enacted, or to whom/what a set-aside proposal would apply, if enacted. Even if set-asides became available, the size of the visa backlog and volume of I-526 filings mean that they may disappear too quickly to have an appreciable incentive effect. Their main function appears to be now, in hypothetical form, as a phantom concession to help get what industry negotiators really want (low investment difference between TEA and non-TEA areas) and a phantom carrot to encourage new investors.
Visa Backlog Update
The backlog of EB-5 visa applications at the National Visa Center continues to grow, as one would expect with I-526 filing surges reaching the visa application stage. The Annual Report of Immigrant Visa Applicants in the Family-sponsored and Employment-based preferences Registered at the National Visa Center as of November 1, 2017 reveals that the EB-5 visa application backlog is 23% longer this year than last year, with 17% increase in pending applications from mainland China and a 106% increase in pending applications from other countries. I’ve added these numbers to my master backlog calculation spreadsheet, which has a projection tab to estimate how statistics translate into wait times.
Legal Actions
Additional reading for those interested in following litigation in the EB-5 space, and learning from the actions and statements that got other people in trouble.
- Understanding EB-5 Securities – NYU Stern Database of SEC EB-5 Securities Enforcement Actions (Draft 12/9/17)
- SEC Charges Immigration Lawyer and His Law Firm with Defrauding Immigrant Investors and Acting as Unregistered Brokers (December 8, 2017 SEC press release)
- Attorney Pleads Guilty to Federal Charges Stemming from $50 Million Scheme that Defrauded the EB-5 Visa Program and Chinese Investors (November 27, 2017 DOJ press release)
- Investors have filed suit regarding the GreenTech Automotive project and SLS Hotel & Casino project
Other Helpful Articles
McKee, Curylo, Parrington: Considerations for Independent Third Parties to Assist With EB-5 Investments (December 12, 2017)
Regional Center List Changes
Additions to the USCIS Regional Center List, 11/08/2017 to 12/05/2017:
- American Dream Fund Seattle Regional Center, LLC (Washington): www.adreamfund.com
- American EB5 Regional Center (Florida)
- Cactus21 LLC (California)
- Chicago Real Estate Development Regional Center, LLC (Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin)
- Great North Regional Center, LLC (Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont): www.peakresorts.com
- Hawaii Regional Fortune Center LLC (Hawaii)
- M5 Venture Southern California RC, LLC (California): www.m5venture.com
- Manhattan Empire State Regional Center, LLC (Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania)
- NCP Regional Center (California)
- North Carolina EB5 Regional Center, LLC (North Carolina, South Carolina): eb5affiliatenetwork.com/regional-centers-access/eb5-regional-center-north-carolina
- SRC NY, LLC (Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania)
One regional center was removed from the approved list, but not added to the terminated list:
- Bart Investment Group, LLC (Florida)
EB-5 Updates 
The extension till Jan 19 like I asked you guys!
Go to Chinese websites and you will see commercials such as “invest in this rural project now! No backlog, no waitlist, 3000 set-aside visas! Last chance to invest at $500,000” everywhere…….
Hi There , Do you know the current status of 1615-AC07 rule ? I know that comment period was over this year in April but has this been submitted to OMB with final changes ?
I heard that USCIS finished its work on the regulation some time ago, and it’s been proceeding through the process. The Federal Register entry says that the final action date on this rule has been updated to 02/00/2018. https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaViewRule?pubId=201710&RIN=1615-AC07
Thank you for your response, Seems like this rule will be effective sometime this year if I understood correctly,
Hello,
Are I-526(s) applied prior to final action date (Feb 2018) with investment amounts of 500K are expected to be grandfathered in if the new rules go in effect? IOW, people who manage to invest prior to the 1615-AC07 change are expected to be subjected to the prior (current) regulations?
The NPRM indicates that provisions in the regulations would apply to petitions filed on or after the effective date of the final rule. The effective date would certainly not antedate the final rule, and would likely post-date it, but I’m not sure by how much (possibly 60 days).