EB-5 Regional Center Program Lapse Strands Investors

The lapse in the EB-5 regional center program has had a major impact on certain investors. According to a report from IIUSA: Invest in the USA, the lapse is hurting more than 32,000 stranded EB-5 investors, putting at least $15 billion in capital investment and more than 486,900 U.S. jobs in jeopardy.

The report notes that under the current lapse in authorization, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has halted adjudication of all I-526 petitions filed by EB-5 investors affiliated with regional centers. According to USCIS, nearly 12,800 EB-5 investors had a pending I-526 petition as of June 30, 2021, when the program expired. The report says that historically, according to the Department of State, 93.4% of the EB-5 visa numbers have been used by applicants who invested through a regional center. This means that nearly 12,000 EB-5 investors with an I-526 petition on file will not receive an adjudication on their EB-5 cases during the lapse of the program