May 2, 20223 min read

【ARCFE News】 USCIS: ALL REGIONAL CENTERS’ RE-REGISTRATION MUST BE APPROVED PRIOR TO ANY I-526 FILED

On Friday April 29th, USCIS updated some significant details regarding how the agency plans to implement the EB-5 Reform Act passed by President Biden on March 15th, 2022. Read our summary below:

USCIS requires all Regional Centers, including new entities and those previously approved, to file form I-956 for Regional Center designation. The form itself and the filing requirements have not been posted at this time, but we expect it to be up on the uscis.gov website in the coming weeks.

All Regional Centers previously designated by the USCIS through the approval of I-924 prior to March 15th, 2022 are no longer approved. If these entities wish to continue accepting new EB-5 investment, they must file form I-956; form I-924 and I-924A are no longer required.

New EB-5 Regional Center investors must wait until the Regional Center they have selected has been re-designated by the USCIS (I-956 approved) and filed a project application for that specific project after receiving I-956 approval.

USCIS has resumed I-526 processing for petitions filed prior to March 15th, 2022. All of these petitions will be grandfathered, meaning the agency will apply the previous EB-5 regulations for these petitions.

The new TEA requirement will apply a “donut shaped” method when determining the eligibility of the project area to be qualified for high unemployment TEA.

The agency have also released some details on how they will determine infrastructure projects that will qualify for the 2% reserved EB-5 visas.

Following the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, USCIS has now also confirmed that EB-5 Regional Center can redeploy their investment funds to any U.S. state or territory to satisfy the at-risk requirements of the EB-5 program.

While the information posted by USCIS on Friday was helpful, there are still a lot of details and clarifications that need to be provided, in order for Regional Centers to successfully manage the investment funds and upcoming investors to smoothly begin their EB-5 journey.

While the information provided by USCIS this past Friday was helpful, there are still a lot of details and clarifications that need to be provided in order for Regional Centers can successfully navigate their strategies in raising and managing EB-5 funds, as well as assisting investors in getting their Green Cards. USCIS recognized the lack of human resource problem that is heavily impacting the agency’s efficiency in processing cases. And said that it is putting in more efforts in recruiting to ensure that it meets the requirement of increasing efficiency mentioned in the EB-5 Reform Act. USCIS also emphasized on its new mission statement announced earlier this year and vow to uphold their promise as a welcoming nation to immigration.

At this time, EB-5 Regional Center investors do not need to worry about the program continue to be further delayed. All Regional Centers in the EB-5 industry are advocating for a faster approval of Regional Center registration, or another potential change in processing policy that allows for more efficiency in processing new I-526s. New investors should start preparing the source of funds and all other required documents with an Immigration Attorney to make sure that everything is ready to be submitted.

ARCFE is monitoring USCIS updates very carefully for any guidance and changes. We are working closely with our attorney to prepare necessary documents to ensure a swift re-designation and an efficient transition into this new exciting era of EB-5 Regional Center. We will continue to update investors on with the latest information.

READ THE FULL FAQs FROM USCIS HERE