The upcoming EB-5 modernization rules: increased investment amounts, stricter TEA designation, Priority Date retention for some investors

Posted by Rupy Cheema on September 27, 2019

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”), on July 24, 2019, published the “EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program Modernization.” The new regulation rules will take effect for all I-526 investors and I-924 petitioners as of November 21, 2019.

Increased investment amounts

The most significant change to the EB-5 Program will be the raising of the minimum investment requirement from $500,000 to $900,000 (for Targeted Employment Area investments, aka, TEA’s) and the increase of $1 million to $1.8 million for non-TEA investments.

The majority of the EB-5 investments in the market today would not qualify for the $900,000 investment amount since they would not qualify under the new TEA rules. Therefore, many petitioners  who would under today’s rules invest in a $500,000 TEA project would have to invest $1.8 million in the same project, with non-TEA designation, as of November 21, 2019. (See the TEA section below for more on this.)

Inferring that EB-5 due diligence firms are not independent and their findings can be procured is a red-herring, designed to maintain the status quo.

Posted by Rupy Cheema on August 30, 2016

CMB recently published a blog titled EB-5 Due Diligence - Third Party Websites: Considering one of the many independent EB-5 due diligence services? in which they dismiss the notion that investors are served by retaining a due diligence firm before selecting an EB-5 investment.

EB-5 business plan process, from start to offering

Posted by Kurt Reuss on March 22, 2016

Kurt: How long does it take from the time someone wants to start putting an EB-5 investment projects together, to completing it and being ready to take the offering to market?

Lets say from the time they meet with an immigration attorney to the time they should expect to have completed putting together the offering package?

Martin, could you walk us through the process? How do you see your firm's role?

Martin: We're the quarterback. We pull together a team which we think will be suitable for the project. That team might include a business plan writer, an economist and a securities lawyer. We also work with the client, their accountant and their business lawyer.