EB-5 Investor Visa Regional Center Pilot Program Extended

About the EB-5 Visa and Regional Centers

Under section 203(b)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(5), 10,000 immigrant visas per year are available to qualified individuals seeking permanent resident status on the basis of their engagement in a new commercial enterprise (generally of at least $1 million).  Of the 10,000 investor visas (i.e., EB-5 visas) available annually, 5,000 are set aside for those who apply under a pilot program involving an CIS-designated “Regional Center.”

The Regional Center program was established by Congress as a pilot program to determine the interest of foreign investors, in exchange of a green card, in specific investment areas, determined by the U.S. government, which are in need of investment capital and development.  The general requirement of $1 million investment is lowered by half, to $500,000, for such Regional Centers.

A Regional Center is generally set up and run by a third party, that allows the prospective foreign national to invest $500,000 (in an economically depressed area in the US), but not have to be involved in the oversight of the investment nor the job creation. The Regional Center personnel are set up to create 10 new jobs on behalf of the investor and are involved in the day to day operations of the whatever investment vehicle that they are overseeing.  The Regional Center program thus allows foreign investors to obtain the benefit of their investment, receive a green card, and not have to be involved in the day-to-day operations of their U.S.-based business.

Extension of the Regional Center Program

The Regional Program is a temporary program, which was scheduled to expire on September 30, 2008.  However, Congress has extended its expiration through March 6, 2009.    This is only a short extension to allow Congress time to debate and discuss the future of the program.

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the bill authorizing the extension of the Regional Center program, but the Senate has yet to review it as of the time of this writing.  It then has to be signed by the President into law.   However, in the meantime, the EB-5 program has been authorized by a stop-gap resolution signed by the President.

Fiscal Year 2008 Regional Center Statistics

To support the popularity of the Regional Center program, USCIS recently releases statistics on EB-5 and the Regional Center EB-5 visas.  During Fiscal Year 2008, there were:

• 12 new EB-5 regional centers were approved;
• 1017 Forms I-526, Immigrant Petitions for Alien Entrepreneur filed; and
• 350 Forms I-829, Petitions by Entrepreneurs to Remove Conditions filed.

These numbers suggest some very good news for foreign EB-5 investors who seek to obtain a green card – while Congress is designating more and more new Regional Centers, there are still plenty of investor visas available to fill the annual cap of 10,000.