Back

EB-5 Regional Center Program Potentially Receiving Short Term EB-5 Policy Extension Until December 22nd

December 13th, 2017 Ian Douglass

For everyone that was seeking information on what was going to happen to EB-5 policy after December 8th, we seem to have gotten our first indications. It appears EB-5 will potentially get a “clean” extension through December 22nd, 2017 as part of a temporary spending bill known as a continuing resolution.

Through various media outlets and articles, we have reason to believe that House GOP leaders are planning to pass a two-week stopgap measure to maintain government funding through December 22nd once current funding expires Friday, December 8th, despite opposition from conservatives and uncertainty over whether Democrats would support it.

The House Rules Committee has scheduled to meet on Tuesday to debate on the two-week spending patch.

Under the plan outlined by GOP leaders, Congress would pass the two-week stopgap this week to give lawmakers time to negotiate a new budget deal. Lawmakers would then approve another a continuing resolution (CR), right before Christmas so that appropriators will have time to write a trillion-dollar “omnibus” package that could potentially be approved in January.

The EB-5 Regional Center program’s current authorization is tied to a continuing appropriations act that expires Friday, December 8.

It would appear we may receive another short-term resolution while our representatives in Washington get things figured out. EB-5 policy is hardly a significant and controversial issue facing Congress now, and there have not been any major political figures speaking out about it.

For everyone who was eager to file by December 8th or immediately after confirming immediate policy action thereafter, please email us immediately to setup an appointment to discuss the next steps to finalizing your I-526 petition filing.

 

EMAIL US NOW TO GET STARTED 

 

EB-5 industry expert and Lucidtext blog writer Susanne Lazicki says we can expect to see either (1) a new appropriations bill or continuing resolution next week that includes clean extension to the Regional Center program for the bill’s duration (as that has been the pattern for two years, and the default option for a Congress busy with other matters); or (2) limited EB-5 program changes crafted by/for the few people who spend most on EB-5 lobbying, slipped quietly and at the last minute into a larger bill to facilitate passage and forestall review and criticism from a broader base of interests.

It is unlikely the regional center program will be terminated, or purposely omitted from the next appropriations bill. Termination calls for the EB-5 Regional Center program have never been prominent, and termination would require time and attention from Congress. However, this re-authorization may not provide much desired certainty for the future of EB-5 as the Regional Center program has received seven short-term extensions in the past two years and Congress has not taken positive action on EB-5 since 2012.

 

image

Chart notes: The PL numbers identify the public laws that contain regional center program authorization. Each opaque blue bar begins with the date of PL enactment and ends with the end of RC authorization in that PL. The light blue shading reflects the fact that the first three reauthorizations just extended the original authorization (from five years to seven, then ten, then fifteen years).

All information in this article is sourced from Susanne Lazicki’s blog Lucidtext and The Hill’s article “This Week: Congress Seeks to Avoid a Government Shutdown“. Visit blog.lucidtext.com for more EB-5 policy updates and commentary.

Categories