A reinstatement and major overhaul of the EB-5 investment visa program passed Congress this week as part of the omnibus package that will fund the federal government through Sept 30. President Biden is expected to sign the omni today. (Roundtable news release and EB-5 Fact Sheet)

 EB-5 Reinstatement

• The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act is the first significant update to the “regional center” program since its creation by Congress in the early 1990s. The EB-5 language can be found in the Division BB section of the 2022 omnibus appropriations bill.
  
  
• The Act reauthorizes regional centers for five years, which expired on June 30, 2021. The EB-5 program reforms are the culmination of years of hard work by a bipartisan group of Senators and Representatives who negotiated a pragmatic solution to modernize the investment visa program.
  
  
• After President Biden signs the omni, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) can re-start its procedures to review the petitions of tens of thousands of overseas investors who have been in limbo on their green card applications since last July.
  
  
• The Act also sets new program requirements to safeguard national security, deter fraud, and promote urban and rural development with EB-5 financing provided by overseas investors. [Roundtable EB-5 Fact Sheet]

Roundtable Commends Reforms 

• “The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act gives our country a competitive edge in the global marketplace for foreign capital and it will attract investments from abroad to create jobs here at home,” said Real Estate Roundtable Chair, John Fish [Chairman and CEO, Suffolk], above, “American workers in low-income neighborhoods, downtown business districts and rural markets will benefit from EB-5 modernization because it will bring critical financing to support infrastructure and other economic development projects throughout the country.” (Roundtable news release, March 11)
  
  
• “The Roundtable has advocated for years to clean up the regional center program and we applaud congressional passage of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act,” said Roundtable President and CEO, Jeffrey D. DeBoer. “The Act strikes a bipartisan compromise to get the program back on track – and reduces the litigation risk from existing investors who have been waiting in limbo on their visa applications since the program expired last July.”

“We thank House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) for their bipartisan, bicameral agreement to include comprehensive EB-5 reform in the omnibus appropriations package,” DeBoer continued. “We commend the authors of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act, Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA), for their work in crafting a product that has the support from a diverse stakeholder coalition.” 

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