EB-5 What's New

 The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has published an alert about the EB-5 Integrity Fund that says that USCIS will use the EB-5 Integrity Fund primarily to administer the EB-5 Regional Center Program, as required by the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA).

USCIS published the “Notice of EB-5 Regional Center Integrity Fund Fee,” 88 FR 13141, Federal Register: Notice of EB-5 Regional Center Integrity Fund Fee, announcing March 2, 2023, as the due date for the Integrity Fund fee. We also said that we would not begin taking steps to terminate a regional center until May 31, 2023. We have still been accepting Integrity Fund Fee payments and, because information about the due dates and penalties might not have been clear, we will continue to collect the EB-5 Integrity Fund fee for fiscal year 2023 from all regional centers that have not yet paid the fee with a due date of Oct. 1, 2023. This extension includes regional centers designated before enactment of the RIA. This is an equitable measure recognizing that, under the Immigration and Nationality Act, we must terminate regional centers that failed to pay the fee by May 31, 2023.

As required by statute and as indicated in the previously published federal register notice, the EB-5 Integrity Fund fee for FY 2024, and for each year thereafter, will be due on and must be paid beginning Oct. 1 of the applicable fiscal year.

We must terminate the designation of any regional center that does not pay the required fee within 90 days after the date such fee is due. See INA 203(b)(5)(J)(iv)(II). Therefore, we will take steps to terminate any regional center that, on or before Dec. 30, 2023, has not paid the required EB-5 Integrity Fund fees for FY 2023 and FY 2024.

NOTE: We will reject Integrity Fund fee payments for FY 2023 and FY 2024 we receive after Dec. 30, 2023, including those made in response to a Notice of Intent to Terminate.

We have resumed processing regional center-based Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur, filed on or before the sunset of the previous regional center program on June 30, 2021. We will adjudicate all Form I-526 petitions filed before March 15, 2022, according to the applicable eligibility requirements at the time such petitions were filed (that is, the eligibility requirements in place before the enactment of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, Div. BB of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 (Pub. L. No. 117-103) (Sec. 101 and 102). We will continue to process Form I-526 petitions under the visa availability approach, prioritizing those Form I-526 petitions for investors with an available visa or a visa that will be available soon.

USCIS is seeking to contact certain individuals who filed Form I-829 so we can schedule a time to collect biometrics information. Please read the following carefully to see if this notice applies to you.

Do you meet the following criteria (see Sections 11031-34 of Public Law 107–273 (PDF))?

• The Form I-829 petition was filed before Nov. 2, 2002;
• The Form I-829 petition was based on a Form I-526 that was approved between Jan. 1, 1995 and Aug. 31, 1998; and
• The Form I-829 petition remains pending with USCIS.

If so, please email USCIS.ImmigrantInvestorProgram@uscis.dhs.gov with subject line “Public Law 107-273 Form I-829 Petition.”

In your email to us, provide the following information:

• Your legal name;
• Your physical address;
• Telephone number(s) where you can be reached; and
• The receipt number of the Form I-829 that is pending with USCIS.

USCIS will use this information to contact you and schedule biometrics collection for your Form I-829 at a local Application Support Center.

Again, we need to contact you only if all three of the criteria listed at the top of this notice apply to you. If only one or two of the criteria apply, then we do not need to contact you.

On March 15, President Biden signed a law that includes authority for an EB-5 Immigrant Investor Regional Center Program and various implementation effective dates for the program. The program will be in effect through Sept. 30, 2027. USCIS will continue to provide additional information on the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, including Questions and Answers related to new filings, as necessary.

Entities seeking to be designated as a regional center are required to file Form I-956, Application for Regional Center Designation.