Final Rule Announcement Expected November 2018
The U.S. Office of Management and Budget has published its Fall 2018 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, which contains updated timetables for two proposed EB-5 regulations and advance notice of a third. The regulation of greatest concern is RIN: 1615-AC07, “EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program Modernization.”
This regulation has moved into the final rule stage and is expected to be published in November 2018, becoming effective soon thereafter.
Significance of EB-5 Program Modernization Final Rule
If made final in November, the proposed rule could go into effect by the end of 2018. Petitions filed before the effective date of the final rule are expected to qualify under current policy, but once the final rule goes into effect, petitions will be subject to any changes to the EB-5 Program.
Anticipated Program Changes
The exact EB-5 policy changes made by this rule will not be known until a final rule is published, but the rule as drafted in the notice of proposed rulemaking included the following primary changes:
- An increase to the minimum investment threshold: from $1,000,000 to $1,800,000 for standard investments and from $500,000 to $1,350,000 for investments in targeted employment areas (TEAs)
- A shift in TEA designation authority from individual states to the Department of Homeland Security
- A refined definition of “targeted employment area” to include metropolitan statistical areas, counties, cities, single census tracts, and limited groups of census tracts experiencing high unemployment rates
- Under certain circumstances, the ability for investors with approved I-526 Petitions to keep their priority dates while filing new I-526 Petitions
- The ability for spouses and children of petitioners to file I-829 Petitions even if they are not named on the investor’s petition
Significance of Final Rule Modification
If made final in November, the proposed rule could go into effect by the end of 2018. Petitions filed before the effective date of the final rule are expected to qualify under current policy, but once the final rule goes into effect, petitions will be subject to any changes to the EB-5 Program.
(Information from EB-5 Affiliate Network update)