Significant changes to the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program were made recently and published in the Federal Register on July 24, 2019.  This is the first major revision of the program’s regulations since 1993 and the final rule will go into effect on November 21, 2019.

New developments under the final rule below include:

• Raising the minimum investment amounts

• • $900,000 (up from $500,000) for Targeted Employment Area (TEA) projects

  • $1,800,000 (increased from $1million) for non-TEA

  • These amounts will adjust for inflation every five years.

• Revising the standards for certain targeted employment area (TEA) designations

• • Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will now make designations of TEAs geographic and political subdivisions as high unemployment areas rather than each state.

  • This is due to prior deliberate manipulation of boundaries of an electoral district by combining multiple census tracts to link to a successful project location to an underachieving community in order to attain the qualifying average unemployment rate.

  • DHS will ensure that TEA designations will be done fairly and consistently to follow closer to congressional intent to invest in areas most in need.

• Clarifying USCIS procedures for the removal of conditions on permanent residence

• • If not included in the principal investor’s petition to remove conditions on their permanent residence, derivative family members must file their own petition to remove conditions.

  • The new ruling improves the process for removing conditions by offering more flexibility in interview locations and conforms to the current process for issuing permanent resident cards.

• Allowing EB-5 petitioners to retain their priority date under certain circumstances

• • If an immigrant investor has a previously approved EB-5 petition, generally they will now be able to keep the priority date of that previously petition (subject to certain exemptions).