New EB-5 Law

The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (“RIA”) repealed the regional center program that had existed from 1993 to 2021, and authorized a new regional center program effective as of May 14, 2022.

RIA also makes changes that affect the direct EB-5 program, including increased minimum investment, changed Targeted Employment Area process and definitions, new structure limitations, and new visa availability restrictions.

Links:

• New Law:
  • The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 can be found in H.R.2471 – Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 enacted on March 15, 2022. Here is my folder with the RIA text extracted and formatted with headings.
• New Forms to comply with RIA
  • Form I-956 Application for Regional Center Designation
  • Form I-956H Bona Fides of Persons Involved with Regional Center Program
  • Form I-956F Application for Approval of an Investment in a New Commercial Enterprise
  • Form I-956G Regional Center Annual Statement
  • Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Standalone Investor (not yet published)
  • Form I-526E Immigrant Petition by Regional Center Investor (not yet published)
  • Form I-829 (not yet updated)
• Regional Centers
  • On April 11, the USCIS EB-5 page announced that “regional centers previously designated under section 610 are no longer authorized. The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 requires all entities seeking regional center designation to provide a proposal in compliance with the new program requirements.” On June 24, an “Order Granting Plaintiff’s Motion for a Preliminary Injunction in the litigation Behring Regional Center LLC v. Mayorkas et al undercut this announcement. See my post Behing injunction shifts compliance risks, and stay tuned for USCIS’s response.
• USCIS Interpretations
  • May 18, 2022: Declaration of Alissa Emmel (See also other documents submitted by DHS in Behring Regional Center LLC v. Mayorkas et al. and EB5 Capital v. Mayorkas et al.)
  • April 29, 2022: EB-5 Questions and Answers (updated April 2022)
  • April 29, 2022: Transcript of prepared remarks for the USCIS EB–5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 Listening Session (See also my post with recording)
  • USCIS EB-5 pages are not yet updated to match RIA, but posts periodic alerts
  • Policy Manual EB-5 section is not yet updated
• Department of State Interpretations
  • See monthly Visa Bulletins since May 2022
  • April 12, 2022: DOS announced that regional center visa processing has resumed.
• In-depth Analysis
  • My article on reserved visas: Impact of Reserved Visas in the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022  (analogy, law, data, application, Oppenheim comments)
  • The EB-5 Regional Center Program: Rise of the Phoenix (March 16, 2022) by Nicolai Hinrichsen, Stephen Yale-Loehr and Adam Schaye in ILW
  • Carolyn Lee’s article for IIUSA on EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022: FAQs (March 23, 2022)
  • Analysis of New EB-5 Reform Bill Destined for Omnibus by March 11, 2022 (March 8, 2022) by Robert Divine