A look at President-Elect Donald Trump on the EB-5 Program…

What can be expected from President-Elect Donald Trump on the EB-5 Program?

Key information to think about:

• Donald Trump is not inaugurated until January 20th, 2017. President-Elect Trump can structure his policies and build his cabinet, but nothing can be enacted until he is officially in office.
• In the meantime, we have what is called a lame duck session of Congress. Just like when Congress extended the EB-5 Program on September 30th, Congress will likely extend the Program again on December 9th, at least for a few more months. There will likely be no changes, simply an extension.

A note to remember: On December 23rd, USCIS is set to raise their EB-5 filing fees slightly.

• Immigration has been a hot topic in the Presidential Debates. While Donald Trump’s administration may create stricter requirements for immigrants trying to obtain visas under the H-1 and L-1 categories, in an attempt to keep U.S. jobs for U.S. workers, his stance on the EB-5 Visa Program may be very different.
• Whereas H-1 and L-1 visa categories are for immigrants who want to work in the U.S., the EB-5 visa category is for immigrants who want to invest in the U.S. Immigrants filing for the H-1 and L-1 visa categories take jobs away from U.S. workers, while immigrants filing for the EB-5 visa category create jobs for U.S. workers.
• According to the Bloomberg, Donald Trump’s son in law, Jared Kushner, has sought the use of the EB-5 visa program to help fund the development of a Trump branded luxury apartment building projects. Therefore it may be safe to assume the EB-5 Program will be staying around for a while.