The federal government shutdown came to an end last night as the House and the Senate passed a Continuing Resolution (the “CR”) last night which extended the Federal budget until February 8, 2018. The President signed the bill late last night. This new short-term extension made no changes to any federal programs, and as a result, the EB-5 Regional Center Program has been extended in its existing form, meaning individual investors may continue to file I-526 petitions until this date.
The Federal government’s Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) is still on track to roll out new EB-5 regulations as early as next month. While these are expected to address issues such as increase the investment amount and to move TEA determinations from the states to USCIS, it’s expected that there will be a 60-day grace period for implementation of any new EB-5 rules. It is highly likely that the minimum investment amounts in place over the next few weeks will never again be at such a low level, and the same may be said for current processing times. Now is the time for any interested investor to seriously consider filing EB-5 applications (Form I-526) as soon as possible under the current EB-5 rules.
The Cozen O’Connor EB-5 team will continue to follow any proposed legislation affecting the EB-5 Regional Center Program in the weeks to come.