EB-5 Regional Center Program Heads for Extension

Here we go again: as investors scramble to organize their funds before the current expiration of the EB-5 Regional Center Program (Sept. 30, 2018), it FINALLY looks like Congress is acting to extend the program.

According to an article on The Hill, the House of Representatives and the Senate have passed identical short-term bills which provide the extention of all government funding until December 7, 2018, via a short-term continuing resolution (CR).  It’s on it’s way to the President with all the usual political nonsense we see every time.

Meanwhile, the State Department just released the October 2018 Visa Bulletin and it contained a few interesting developments:

• Since the President still hasn’t signed the CR extending the EB-5 Regional Center Program, the State Department had to list all EB-5 country chargeability categories as “unavailable”…for now, they must legally assume that the program will end on Sept. 30, as is currently the reality.  But I’m confidant Trump doesn’t want a government shutdown and he will sign the bicameral bill into law as in the past, once again totally ignoring the EB-5 Regional Center program in the language and giving it continued life via the CR until December 7th.
• On a positive note for the small number of Direct EB-5 Investors from Vietnam (as in those who did NOT invest via a Regional Center), the Final Action Date (FAD) for Vietnam EB-5 investors adjusted substantially as I’ve been predicting: the September Visa Bulletin FAD date for Vietnam was August 8. 2014…it leaped forward to January 1, 2016.  That means that when the new USG fiscal year begins on October 1, Vietnamese EB-5 investors with I-526 approval dates prior to January 1, 2016 will be able to begin processing with the National Visa Center.  

So, all that being said, I wish you a great weekend and leave you with ONE question:

QUESTION: Does the forward movement in the direct/non-Regional Center EB-5 FAD for Vietnam mean a similar jump will happen in the Regional Center category once the new batch of annual visa is released on Oct. 1?

I honestly don’t have an answer based on analysis but my gut tells me “yes”.

Stay tuned!