The passed government spending bill for the current fiscal year, referred to as the Omnibus, reinstates the lapsed EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, with some updates. Unfortunately, recapturing lapsed green card allotments is not part of the bill. Some immigration support is included with incremental funding for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to reduce the long backlog.

EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program

The EB-5 program updates include several measures to reform the process. Preventing fraud and encouraging investment in poor or rural areas are part of the reform. In addition, the “regional center” program will be reformed. Giving investors the option to pool their collective capital to fund larger investments in the U.S. is also included. More specific requirements around what qualifies as capital, background checks, audits, and site visits for EB-5 projects are also included. Minimum funding of $800,000 for high poverty areas is now required, versus the prior $500,000. The 10,000 EB-5s made available annually will be split with 2,000 set aside for high poverty areas.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is given the power to confirm that foreign capital investment is lawfully sourced. Foreign agents and third-party supporters of the EB-5 program will be required to register with DHS.  Fees will be paid to DHS through the “integrity fund” by regional centers and investors to support these efforts.

 

Green Card Recapture

In previous versions of the spending bill, a visa recapture would have reclaimed unused green cards from previous years. This allotment is critical to reducing the lengthy backlog that continues. The recapture previously proposed included employment- and family-based immigrant visa numbers from fiscal 2020 and 2021.  Due, in part, to the pandemic, the processing of the annual allotment was not able to be used. However, it is important to note that the backlog existed prior to the pandemic. Last year, over 200,000 immigrant visas went unused.

Many workers from India and China have very long wait times to apply for legal permanent resident status. In fact, some wait over ten years. Although there are efforts underway to recapture these unused visas, it’s not likely the measures will move forward given the partisan debate on the topic.

 

USCIS Funding

The omnibus includes an increase of over $200 million from the previous fiscal year budget for USCIS. These funds are intended to be used to address the ongoing, and growing, backlog in immigration application processing. In February of this year, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Ur Jaddou openly asked for incremental funding to address the known issues. USCIS also suffered financially in part due to reduced applications due to Covid, but also due to travel restrictions. The impact the incremental funding will have on the backlog is clearly unknown, but a positive note.

If you have questions about the EB-5 program, green card applications, or any other immigration-related issue, contact us at ILBSG. We actively monitor ongoing policy updates and ensure our clients get the right advice for their specific situations.

Budget Bill EB-5 Green Card Recapture USCIS