The Problem with EB-5’s Reliance on
Temporary Legislation
Following the EB-5 program's 32 extensions, it should be congress' responsibility
to protect investors and make the program permanent.
By Robert C. Divine
I
t is a shame that the legislation supporting the regional
center aspect of the EB-5 visa program is temporary, and
that needs to be fixed right away.
The basic law for EB-5 is permanent, but that only lets an
investor be credited with operational jobs of a business, and
the investor must place the required capital into that exact
business or its 100% parent company. In 1992, congress
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included in a funding bill a 5-year “pilot program” to have
USCIS designate regional centers to promote pooling of
investments and to allow investors in sponsored projects
count indirect job creation through reasonable economic
methodologies, and USCIS has allowed those sponsored
i nve s t m e n t s to c o m e t h r o u g h a “ n e w c o m m e r c ia l
enterprise” (NCE) that is separate from the “job creating
enterprise” (JCE) that ultimately uses the capital. Since