News & Alerts

USCIS Officially Reinstates Pre-Modernization EB-5 Regulations

by Carolyn Lee

Jul 7, 2021

Below is the update posted on the USCIS website in response to the court decision that vacated the EB-5 Modernization Regulation. The update is published here: https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/permanent-workers/eb-5-immigrant-investor-program


Alert
: On June 22, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, in Behring Regional Center LLC v. Wolf, 20-cv-09263-JSC, vacated the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program Modernization Final Rule (PDF). While USCIS considers this decision, we will apply the EB-5 regulations that were in effect before the rule was finalized on Nov. 21, 2019, including:

  • No priority date retention based on an approved Form I-526;
  • The required standard minimum investment amount of $1 million and the minimum investment amount for investment in a Targeted Employment Area (TEA) of $500,000′
  • Permitting state designations of high unemployment TEAs; and
  • Prior USCIS procedures for the removal of conditions on permanent residence.

In other words, we are applying the regulations in effect before Nov. 21, 2019, on this website and in the USCIS Policy Manual, Volume 6, Part G, Investors. In addition, we again will accept the April 15, 2019, version of Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur, because the Nov. 21, 2019, version of the form reflects updates from the now-vacated rule.

We will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates on any further developments.

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