Author：David Enterline（Senior Legal Consultant to HW Wealth Succession Family Office / American Immigration Lawyer）

The EB-5 Immigrant Investor “Regional Center” Program (“Program”) lapsed on June 30, 2021 due to the failure of the U.S. Congress to extend or reauthorize it before that date. Congress has not yet passed a law to reauthorize the Program.

Separately

As a result, any investor and family members who do not already have immigrant visas issued by a U.S. Consulate will not be issued immigrant visas to enter the U.S., and any investor and family members who do not yet have an approved Adjustment of Status Application filed with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) will not be eligible to adjust their status to permanent residency.

The USCIS has issued the “Alert” below on its website.

Important information in that alert that you should note is:

• The USCIS will not act on any pending Form I-526 Petition or Form I-485 Application that is dependent on a Regional Center for indirect job creation. At least for the time being, it will hold these forms in abeyance.
• The USCIS we will begin rejecting all Forms I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, and any associated Forms I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, and Forms I-131, Application for Travel Document, based on an approved Regional Center Form I-526 Petition.
  It is not clear yet whether the USCIS will begin proactively rejecting Form I-485 Applications that have already been filed. However, it is clear that it will reject any future Form I-756 and Form I-131 Applications.
• The USCIS will continue to accept and review Form I-829, Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status, in the normal course, including those filed on or after July 1, 2021. This is consistent with the EB-5 regulations and policy that investors who already have Conditional Permanent Residence are no longer subject to the extension of the Program.

There is talk in the EB-5 industry that a reauthorization may come at the end of September when traditionally it would be extended with other laws that are typically annually extended, but there is no certainty of this. We all hope that Congress will act to at least provide relief for those tens of thousands of investors such as yourself who have sought to immigrate to the U.S. by investment. We can only wait and see...