How Does The EB 5 Program Work Now The New Regulation Is In Effect?

How does the EB 5 Program work now the new regulation has gone into effect? What has and hasn’t changed?

Interested foreign nationals looking to obtain US green cards through the EB 5 Program should be aware of the following changes made to the program.

On November 21, 2019, the EB 5 Modernization Regulation went into effect changing two major aspects of the program:

1. New $900k rate (increased from $500k).

The regulation increased the minimum investment amount for targeted employment area projects to $900,000 and to $1.8 million for non- targeted employment area projects. Read here to learn why the EB-5 visa is still a great deal even at the $900k rate. 

2. Targeted employment area (TEA) changes.

States can no longer issue TEA designation letters. The authority to designate TEA is now in the hands of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Additionally, investors will now need to provide evidence showing that the project they selected is in an TEA eligible area in order to qualify for the lower EB 5 minimum investment amount. Read more about these TEA changes and the impact they will have on interested investors here. 

Other than a few additional minor changes, the EB 5 Program process has remained the same. Investors select a viable EB 5 project to invest the required minimum capital and they work with an immigration attorney to file their I-526 Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur.

The next step is to start conducting due diligence on EB 5 regional centers and projects.

With hundreds of  EB 5 Regional Centers to choose from, what should you look for to ensure that you’ll fulfill all your immigration goals? Here are a few key regional center selection tips. 

Now that you can answer ‘how does the EB 5 Program work?’, you can begin the evaluation process to determine if you’re eligible for this green card route. Take our quick free evaluation below to get started. Note: The EB 5 Regional Center Program is reauthorized through December 20, 2019. Apply before the program sunsets to lock in your priority date.