The U.S. Census Bureau has published new labor force data used to calculate High-Unemployment (HUA) Targeted Employment Areas (TEA), one of the categories for investments in the EB-5 visa program.
Consequently, Impact DataSource has updated the TEA Mapping App with the new data involving HUA TEAs. The app was developed in collaboration with EB5 Investors Magazine.
Michael Kester, economist at Impact DataSource, explains that this update affects one of the two methods the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) uses calculate Targeted Employment Areas (TEA) since the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022: the “straight-ACS” method.
“There is no change to ‘Rural’ TEAs and no change at this time to HUA TEAs that are based on the ‘census-share’ calculation. So, while this is a significant data update, many EB-5 projects will not be impacted,” Kester says.
“As always, EB-5 stakeholders can continue to use the TEA app as a guide, but should consult an experienced EB-5 economist to verify that the location can meet the TEA guidelines,” Kester said.
How the data is used to calculate the EB-5 TEA map
TEAs are specific geographic areas that the USCIS uses to determine the required investment amount for an EB-5 application. If an investment is made in a designated TEA, the investor can qualify for a reduced investment threshold. The correct amounts are $800,000 for TEAs and $1,050,000 for all other cases, according to EB-5 requirements.
These areas are determined by how many people live there. In the case of Rural, they must be outside cities or towns with 20,000 or more people and outside large city areas. The information for Rural TEAs is updated less often than for HUA TEAs.
TEAs are usually adjusted around this time each year, after the U.S. government releases its employment and other data. Last time, about 100 rural TEAs and large-city-area project labels changed.
The update changes HUA TEAs that are calculated using the ‘census-share’ method. It does not change Rural TEAs or high-unemployment TEAs that use the ‘straight ACS’ way.
The ACS survey, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, provides detailed information on people, jobs, and housing. This information is used to calculate unemployment rates and other metrics needed to select HUAs.
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