On December 2, Senate Legislative Counsel released a draft copy of the EB-5 Reform bill, American Job Creation and Investment Promotion Reform Act of 2016. This bill mirrors the H.R. 5992 proposal published in September that was proposed by U.S. Representative, Bob Goodlatte.
The bill proposes an extension until September 30, 2022. Effective FY2018, 7.5% of the total visas issued would be reserved for rural and priority urban investment areas. In FY2019, 15% reserved visas would be given out to rural and priority urban investment areas. In the case of unused visas, theys shall be available within the respective category for the succeeding fiscal year. If there are still remaining visas, they will be made available to immigrants who filed petitions under all categories in the next succeeding fiscal year.
Another proposal of the bill touches on investment. After October 1, 2017, a minimum investment of $750,000 for TEA and $850,000 for non-TEA would go into effect. After October 1, 2018, a minimum of $800,000 for TEA and $1,000,000 for non-TEA would take effect.
Qualified alien investors would be allowed to apply for LPR (Lawful Permanent Resident) after 24 months of investment action. This change is imperative to Chinese petitioners, as previous requirements had those investors waiting a period of time for a CPR (Conditional Permanent Resident), followed by an additional two years to file an I-829 petition. Under this newly proposed bill, mainland China-born investors who are facing visa backlogs, could especially benefit.
Click here to view the full draft of the bill.