Wish List for EB-5 Reform
EB5 Investors Magazine has reached out to stakeholders in the industry to source reform recommendations from those who know the program best. It is our hope that increased dialogue between key
players will generate positive, lasting change in the EB-5 industry. The following suggestions were
submitted by members of our online community and reflect the opinions of their respective authors.
EB-5 financing has become so integrated into
mainstream financing, that new stakeholders in the
banking, insurance, corporate and professional services
areas have joined with traditional stakeholders to
become involved in pushing both the Administration
and Congress for needed policy changes. The stake- Laura Reiff
holders joined together in May 2014 to form the EB-5
Immigration Coalition. The Coalition is a broad-based organization of
businesses and trade associations with the shared mission to support and
promote the continuation and improvement of the EB-5 Immigrant
Investor Program. The goals of the Coalition are to address critical
stakeholder needs, both legislatively and administratively. The key
specific policy goals for EB-5 reform through legislation include, but
are not limited to:
• Permanent authorization of EB-5 program, providing
investors and businesses with certainty and predictability;
• Market-based immigrant visa numbers tied to demand;
• Elimination of numerical limitation on individual foreign states;
• Improved definition of targeted employment
area (TEA) designations;
• Codify the current TEA designation authority, which
leaves such designations up to the states, which are best
equipped to determine local employment needs;
• Reasonable capital requirements;
• Respect for economic modeling and job creation calculations;
• Respect and deference for project preapprovals
and deference to pr