As the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program undergoes significant changes with Donald Trump’s return to the White House for a second term, Indian investors are navigating a landscape of both challenges and opportunities in their pursuit of permanent residency in the United States. Increasing demand, regulatory shifts, and the looming threat of visa retrogression are prompting investors to act with urgency.
Nicholas A. Mastroianni III, President and CMO of the US Immigration Fund (USIF), recently discussed the implications of EB-5 visa retrogression. This occurs when the demand for visas within a specific category exceeds the available supply, resulting in delays. The January 2025 Visa Bulletin highlighted the possibility of backlogs in new categories for rural and high-unemployment areas, stressing the need for early applications to secure a priority date.
Understanding Visa Retrogression
As a result of retrogression, investors are temporarily unable to access interim benefits such as Employment Authorization Documents (EAD) or Advance Parole (AP) until they file concurrently. Additionally, under the Child Status Protection Act (CSPA), dependent children’s ages are effectively frozen at the time of filing for Adjustment of Status (AOS). However, retrogression-related delays could risk children nearing 21 “aging out” of eligibility.
Before the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, which introduced specific categories for rural and high-unemployment areas, approximately 32% of visas were designated for EB-5 projects. Since then, demand has surged, with around 7,000 I-526E petitions filed between April 2022 and July 2024, intensifying competition among investors.
Strategic Investment Insights
Mastroianni stressed the importance of acting early to mitigate the impact of retrogression, emphasizing that “securing a priority date early protects investors from falling into a visa backlog.” He recommends staggered investment strategies, allowing investors to file their I-526E with an initial investment of $200,000, securing their priority date, and giving them up to six months to complete the remaining $600,000 investment.
He also pointed to the upcoming reset of the Liberalized Remittance Scheme (LRS) in April 2025, which will enable Indian nationals to remit up to $250,000 per person per financial year. However, the 20% Tax Collected at Source (TCS) could impose financial constraints, and Mastroianni advises investors to navigate these challenges with staggered investment strategies.
Further, he discussed how concurrent filing has significantly altered the EB-5 process for investors already in the U.S. on non-immigrant visas such as H-1B and F-1. This allows investors to file for AOS without waiting for I-526 petition approval, thereby reducing uncertainty in the immigration process.
Mastroianni also cautioned about CSPA protection, noting that it is contingent upon filing for AOS within one year of visa availability. Delays could result in children over the age of 21 losing their eligibility if no action is taken before their 21st birthday.
Recent Random Post:
