How To Prepare For Filing Your I-526 Petition Before The EB-5 Sunset Date and Regulation

The EB-5 Regional Center Program is not a permanent program, it must be reauthorized each year. Typically, Congress extends the program for a few months by including it in its government spending bill. The need for frequent program re-authorization leaves open the possibility for unexpected program reform. In order to avoid this uncertainty, potential EB-5 investors rush to apply for the EB-5 visa prior to the sunset date. The next sunset date is September 30th, 2019.

On top of this, the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program Modernization is in its final stage. Once it’s published in the Federal Register it could go into effect in as few as 30 days. This signals serious potential changes for EB-5. One of the major changes could be an increase to the minimum investment amount. Targeted employment area (TEA) projects could see an increase from $500,000 to $1,350,000. Non-TEA projects could see an increase from $1,000,000 to $1,800,000. (TEA projects qualify for the lower investment amount because they are located in high unemployment or rural areas.)

While it is unclear what is in the final form of the EB-5 Regulation as well as when it will be published, it could happen any day now. To avoid the risk of having to invest more than double the minimum investment amount for a TEA project, investors are racing to invest now and be grandfathered in under the current EB-5 rules. Other changes the regulation could bring include transferring TEA designation from state agencies to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), increasing Regional Center oversight, and changing filing and interview processes.

Investors who apply now can be grandfathered in under the current EB-5 rules and avoid the huge potential increase to the minimum investment amount. Applying now can lock in your priority date and your place in line, which could be extremely beneficial if your country of origin is approaching its per country visa cap of 7% of the total number of visas available.

Getting started: How to prepare to file your I-526 Immigrant Petition for Alien Entrepreneur

• Ready immigration documents such as passports for you, your spouse, and any unmarried children under the age of 21 years who will be dependents on your application.
• Gather evidence to show proof that you can make the required minimum investment amount of $500,000 plus administrative and legal fees.
• Prepare evidence that shows that these funds came from lawful sources.
• Accredited investors will need to show proof of either:
  • They have a net worth of over $1,000,000 not including primary residences.
  • Or, they have an annual earned income of more than $200,000 (more than $300,000 if jointly with a spouse) in each of the proceeding two years as well as the expectation of earning more than that in the current year.
• Have all the documents translated.
• Lastly, find an experienced EB-5 immigration attorney to ultimately prepare and file your I-526 Petition.

For more information about preparing to apply for EB-5, send us a message.