Since September 30, 2015 Congress has considered several
immigration bills that would have completely overhauled the EB-5
program. All of us in the space, especially attorneys, had prepared
ourselves for the inevitable change of the current EB-5
regulations. We all knew that the minimum capital threshold
requirement would increase to $800,000. In addition, the targeted
employment area ("TEA") definition would change, thereby
eliminating important metropolitan areas such as New York City from
consideration. All of this was occurring against the backdrop of
Congress trying to pass the appropriations bill so that our
government would not run out of money.
Congress has been wanting to revamp the EB-5 program for a
significant period of time. All of the recently introduced EB-5
bills contained measures to increase compliance and make the
program safer for foreign investors that were seeking a "Green
Card". Developers and attorneys lobbied for reform that
would not be
