“Thank you for your email. I will be delayed in replying until Sept. 30 because my team and I are concentrating on meeting the EB-5 deadline and submitting cases.”
If you’ve reached out to an EB-5 immigration attorney in the past few weeks, chances are you’ve received some version of this autoreply. It’s not a one-off—it became something of an industry-wide away message, a shared symptom of the same high-stakes crunch. With the EB-5 “grandfathering deadline” landing on Sept. 30, law firms nationwide are managing a sharp increase in demand.
A week before the deadline, EB5Investors.com reached out to U.S. immigration attorneys handling this surge firsthand to understand what the final weeks look like from inside their practices—how their caseloads have changed, whether they’re still taking on new clients, and what they’re telling investors who are just now realizing the clock is running out.
The real danger isn’t missing the deadline but rushing and skipping the careful work needed to ensure the filing holds up, many attorneys said.
What Does “Grandfathering” Mean?
The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA) reauthorized the Regional Center Program through September 30, 2027, and built in a statutory provision set to expire that same date this year.
As EB-5 attorney Anthony Korda of The Korda Law Firm explains, “This provides protection to investors who file before the deadline and ensures that their petitions will continue to be processed even if still pending when (and if) the Regional Center program lapses or expires. Investors who file after this date will not be guaranteed processing if the program ends in September 2027.”
Sharp Spike of Applications Leads Law Firms to Adjust Work Schedules
Many EB-5 attorneys noted a significant rise in filings. Belma Demirovic Chinchoy of IGC Law states, “We’ve seen a significant uptick in demand to file ahead of the deadline—strong enough that it has spilled into the post-deadline months, and we’ve already signed cases for October.” She adds, “We’ll have filings going out through Q4, ahead of the increase in the minimum investment amount.”
This sentiment of urgency surrounding the deadline was echoed by Karen-Lee Pollak of Pollak PLLC, who described September as “complete madness in terms of getting petitions ready for filing.” According to her, there has been a “clear uptick in filings over the past several months as investors move to beat the deadline,” with the pace accelerating dramatically in September.
As demand surged, Fredrick Voigtmann of The Law Office of Fred Voigtmann had to adjust his practice to accommodate the influx. “We have extended our working hours; we are working on Saturday and put all non-EB-5 cases and non-emergency cases on hold until the end of the month,” he explained. “As with EB-5 surges in the past, we have experienced a rush of ‘last-minute’ applications.”
Regarding this environment of heightened urgency, Korda added: “I have accepted clients who can confirm that they have selected a project and are ready to fund. Now not accepting new EB-5 RC clients unless they understand that grandfathering will not apply. Warning all clients of the investment increases in January.”
Minwon Cho of Cho Law also observed how this growing momentum is reshaping how cases are built. “We are seeing a significant surge in activity as Sept. 30 approaches, with many prospective investors trying to accelerate project selection, fund transfers, and I-526E preparation.” However, he said this urgency is reversing the proper sequence for some investors. He also noted that instead of carefully choosing the right project and preparing a thorough petition, many clients rushed to file by Sept. 30, neglecting essential steps in the process.
Rana Jazayerli of Jazayerli Law shares similar concerns and decided to prioritize quality over volume. “I stopped accepting new clients for Sept. 30 filings well before the deadline because I did not want the deadline to compromise the quality of the filings or my ability to represent existing clients properly.”
Adding to this historical perspective, David Hirson of David Hirson & Partners, LLP places this surge in context: “Having been in this practice since the EB-5 program’s creation in 1990, I’ve watched several sunset and grandfathering deadlines create the same pattern: a slow build followed by a genuine surge in the final 30-45 days.”
Dora Hu of Foster LLP echoes Hirson’s thoughts on balancing volume with quality control. She emphasizes the underlying factors driving the attorneys’ confidence: “While Sept. 30 is real, a possible increase in investment amount is real; we believe Congress will duly extend the EB-5 pilot program in the near future.” Yet, she cautions that ‘rushing submission of an insufficient filing may do them more harm than good.'”
Missing Sept. 30 isn’t missing EB-5; the door remains open
For prospects only now learning of the deadline, the guidance is consistent: move forward, but don’t compress diligence.
“Move quickly, but don’t confuse speed with a shortcut,” Pollak said. “While you may not be able to file a compliant petition by Sept. 30, 2026, don’t panic—file the program remains open until September 2027. You simply forgo grandfathering, and that’s a risk to weigh, not a door slamming shut. This is exactly the environment where investors cut corners on project and regional-center due diligence. Deadline pressure is not a reason to skip it. I would then target filing before Jan. 1, 2027, as the amounts of the investment increase.”
Demirovic points to source-of-funds documentation specifically: “Don’t assume your source of funds is simple. Almost everyone tells me theirs is straightforward — ‘just income and stocks.’ Then we review the bank statements and find non-salary deposits, peer-to-peer transfers, proceeds from a property sale, and more. Every dollar that enters the account has to be traced and documented — source and path — not just salary and investment income. Build in time for that: eight weeks is the floor for a typical case, and more if the picture is complex.”
Robert Cornish of Cornish Law raises a separate concern tied to offering project documents: “What is more staggering is that at this late hour, many of these investors have no idea what rights they are waiving in participating in potential investments, whether it be their place in the capital stack being taken by a senior lender, fiduciary duties or the ability to seek redress in US courts.”
Voigtmann’s advice covers what comes next for investors who miss the window: “If you are too late to meet the grandfathering deadline, be aware of the fact that the regional center program does not expire until Sept. 30, 2027 so it is still possible to take advantage of the EB-5 regional program, with certain caveats; be aware that Congress has renewed the program more than 30 times over the years and most experts expect a renewal sometime next year (although the timing is uncertain), and be aware that the minimum investment amount will be raised on Jan. 1, 2027.”
Grandfathering expires Sept. 30; the Regional Center Program doesn’t
Several lawyers stressed a distinction they say is getting lost.
“The expiration of the grandfathering provision on Sept. 30 does not mean the EB-5 Regional Center Program expires. The program remains authorized through Sept. 30, 2027, and investors can continue to file I-526E petitions after September 30… For all but the past four years of the Regional Center Program, there was no statutory grandfathering provision. Congress nevertheless repeatedly renewed the program,” Jazayerli said.
Hu adds: “While Sept. 30 is real, a possible increase of investment amount is real, we believe the EB-5 pilot program will be duly extended by Congress in the near future, and as attorneys, sometimes we may have to tell clients that rushing submission of an insufficient filing may do them more harm than good.”
Voigtmann focuses on the historical track record: “Congress has renewed the program more than 30 times over the years, and most experts expect a renewal sometime next year.”
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