The Senate Judiciary Committee has announced it plans to hold another hearing on the EB-5 Program on April 13, 2016.

The Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Charles Grassley from Iowa, was apivotal figure in the 2015 negotiations for reforming the EB-5 Regional Center Program. In 2015, new EB-5 legislation was put on hold with a 1 year extension of the Regional Center Program until September 30, 2016. This 1-year legislative fix with no changes became necessary when differences of opinion among legislators and the EB-5 industry threatened to derail legislative reform negotiations. One of the thorny issues that derailed the 2015 legislative negotiations were the rules for defining Targeted Employment Areas.

Targeted Employment Areas are either high unemployment areas or rural areas, which allow foreign investors to invest at a lower investment amount (currently US$500,000 instead of the standard amount of US$1,000,000).

Throughout 2016, Senator Grassley has continued to pursue his vision of reform of the EB-5 Regional Center Program. This will be the third Senate Judiciary Committee hearing regarding the EB-5 program that has been chaired by Senator Grassley. The upcoming hearing is entitled “The Distortion of EB-5 Targeted Employment Areas: Time to End the Abuse” and is scheduled for Wednesday, April 13, 2016 at 10:00AM.

I.A. Donoso & Associates will attend the hearing and we expect to report on any developments arising from this important legislative event.

I.A. Donoso & Associates is uniquely positioned to report on these changes because of our location in Washington, D.C. We will continue to monitor any legislative of USCIS regulatory actions that will affect the EB-5 Regional Center Program and Immigrant Investors.

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