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Questions and Answers > Other Eb-5 Questions

What happens if the EB5 Regional Center Pilot Program is not renewed?

What would be an applicant''s position if EB5 pilot program is not renewed (Sept 2015) in the period after approval of his I-526? Would all rights to obtain residence be lost? Could an investor sell his investment immediately to reclaim funds?

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Answers

  • Avatar

    Bernard P Wolfsdorf

    Immigration Attorney
    Answered on

    The Bill in congress which has about 70 percent chance of success, will make it permanent. There is bipartisan support for the RC program.

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    Roberto Ortiz

    Immigration Attorney
    Answered on

    Currently, the Senate passed a bill last week to make the EB-5 Pilot Program Permanent. I do not think that the Program will be expiring any time soon.

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    Lei Jiang

    Immigration Attorney
    Answered on

    Yes. Whether he can sell or not depends on the subscription agreement & partnership agreement he signed.

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    Reza Rahbaran

    Immigration Attorney
    Answered on

    It is unlikely that this program will be removed. In any case, if your petition is filed prior to September 2015, it would most likely be adjudicated.

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    Shahzad Q Qadri

    RC Creator
    Answered on

    In the event that the RC program is not renewed, there are talks to ensure that people who have invested in the program are grandfathered in. As to whether you can immediately sell your investment depends on the term of your offering, make sure you review those carefully before investing as that will dictate the terms of return.

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    BoBi Ahn

    Immigration Attorney
    Answered on

    You would most like be grandfathered even if the provision is no longer available. Also, in the recently introduced Senate Bill (Immigration Reform Bill), there is a provision to keep the program indefinitely (i.e., remove the 9/2015 end date).

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    Mahsa Aliaskari

    Immigration Attorney
    Answered on

    While it is unlikely that the EB-5 Regional Center program will not be extended in the future, given the broad-based support the program has, if the provisions do sunset some of the key consequences would include:

    - All form I-526 petitions received after the sunset would have to demonstrate that their investment will create 10 direct, permanent full time jobs for qualified U.S. workers.
    - I-526 petitions pending before the sunset would likely be held in abeyance pending action by Congress, if there is no re-authorization of the regional center program. USCIS would adjudicate the petitions based on evidence of direct job creation.

    Your options specific to your investment would depend on the terms of your subscription agreement, something you should carefully review with the proper advisers like corporate securities counsel.

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    Julia Roussinova

    Immigration Attorney
    Answered on

    If the I-526 petition is approved prior to the Pilot program''s expiration, you will be fine. It is highly unlikely this program will not be renewed. Current immigration reform proposals actually call for this program to be made permanent.

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    Fredrick W Voigtmann

    Immigration Attorney
    Answered on

    First of all, this is very unlikely. Second, USCIS would not terminate conditional lawful permanent resident status, disallow the filing of an I-829, or require proof of direct employment in the event that the pilot program is not extended. I am confident there would be some sort of grandfathering protection for those in the two-year conditional period. In fact, it is more likely that the pilot program will be made permanent, either in the proposed comprehensive immigration reform law, or in a separate package.

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    Neville M Leslie

    Immigration Attorney
    Answered on

    You would be protected.

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    Boyd Campbell

    Immigration Attorney
    Answered on

    Petitions that have been filed will be adjudicated. But this visa program will not die. Congress will always renew the Immigrant Investor Pilot Program, as the regional center program is called.

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    Jinhee Wilde

    Immigration Attorney
    Answered on

    Since I-526 is a immigrant petition, anyone who has had the petition approved should be able to obtain an immigrant visa or adjust status based on that. I also do not think the Congress will cancel the EB-5 pilot program and the immigration reform actually proposes to expand and make it permanent.

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    Michael A Harris, Esq

    Immigration Attorney
    Answered on

    If past policy still holds true, then if the Regional Center based I-526 is approved before the program expires, then you would be fine. If it is not approved and the program expires, then the project you subscribe to will have to rely on DIRECT jobs only. If immigration reform passes, as provided in the Gang of Eight proposed legislation, then the program may be made permanent.

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    Ed Beshara

    Immigration Attorney
    Answered on

    The USCIS may take the position that once the investor obtains the conditional permanent residency, then they are grandfathered in and can proceed with the petition for full permanent residency even though the RC program ends after the conditional permanent residency is obtained.