Since the EB-5 regional center program has lapsed, is it reasonable for us to redeploy to keep the money as “at-risk” investment?

It is important that you seek immigration counsel.

I would want to discuss the particular circumstances here, but it can be possible that if the program is reauthorized as is, the rules about maintaining the investment would remain, and when it is time to get that pending 526 or 829 approved, they would look to see if the requirements were met.

This is a very difficult question because there is a requirement to redeploy within a commercially reasonable time. The fact the program has lapsed means one could argue that you, the investor, wanted to make sure the program was reauthorized prior to re-deploying, so you can argue that a commercially reasonable time may be extended because investors need to see if there is even a program to hold on to. So, commercially reasonable time may include some additional time to cover the period of the lapse. However, we are in untested waters, so it is not clear if the government will be generous in determining what is commercially reasonable.

It depends on what other options you have.

You should assume that the regional center program will not be reauthorized, or if it is, not anytime soon.