USCIS on EB-5 Regional Center Lapse

As we recently reported, the 2019 EB-5 law was nullified by a California Federal Court last week, briefly restoring the $500,000 TEA/$1 Million non-TEA EB-5 investment threshold. Unfortunately, the government failed to renew the EB-5 Regional Center program, resulting in its lapse yesterday, June 30. In response to that, USCIS updated their Approved Regional Center page, essentially stating that until the program is restored, the USCIS will not accept new I-526 applications from new Regional Center investors or filings relating to Regional Centers. You can read the full language HERE.

Meanwhile, the prospect of being able to invest in EB-5 at the old $500,000 threshold has triggered a mad marketing effort by many EB-5 projects, DESPITE the fact that we still don’t know the answers to the following questions:

1. Will Congress act rapidly to reinstate the EB-5 Regional Center Program upon returning from the Fourth of July break?
2. Will the USCIS move swiftly to reimplement the 2019 regulations?
3. If so, how long will it take for the reimplementation to work its way through the Washington bureaucracy and raise the TEA investment amount back to $900,000?
4. Will there be a period during which the $500,000 TEA threshold remains in effect which overlaps with the reinstatement of the Regional Center Program, permitting nimble investors to invest in EB-5 for $500,000 during that window of time?

At this point, we just don’t know. HOWEVER, it is our opinion and that of many other EB-5 stakeholders that this “window” may indeed occur given that even if USCIS swiftly moves to reinstate the 2019 changes, it will likely take weeks or months for the change to take effect. Unfortunately for investors, many projects are taking advantage of these complex dynamics with the intent of 1) collecting $500,000 investments and 2) modifying the offering to require investors to remain invested…even if they cannot proceed with their EB-5 filing.

Not American Venture Solutions Regional Center.

AVS is protecting potential investors in our new River Oak EB-5 Single Family Home Rental Community Development by facilitating the opportunity for the $500,000 EB-5… responsibly. AVSRC is currently accepting Investor Eligibility Questionnaires from interested accredited investors; those accepted for the very limited 33 EB-5 slots will begin the source of funds (“SOF”) process and work with their preferred immigration attorney to organize their I-526 application and have their investment funds in escrow, permitting immediate filing if necessary…but also permitting investors to immediately recover the totality of their investment funds if they decide to withdraw after the new laws are implemented.

Contact AVS Regional Center today for your Investor Eligibility Questionnaire.

Attorney José E. Latour

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