09 Feb What’s UP with Changes to Investor Immigration These Days? The Answer: A LOT!

On November 21, 2019, the dreaded (by those of us in the industry) long-anticipated increased to the minimum investment amounts required for EB-5 Immigrant Investors came to fruition – what used to be $1,000,000 and $500,000 investments (the latter being in a Targeted Employment Area) changed to $1,800,000 and $900,000 respectively. Pretty significant by anyone’s standards… pundits didn’t think it would happen but to be candid, it was time. The minimum investment amounts were not the only impacted – and impactful – changes that came to pass with the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program Modernization Regulations, such as plans to further increase these amounts every 5 years to reflect inflation, changes to how to designate/qualify a Targeted Employment Area, among other changes. These changes have had a resounding and ever-lasting effect upon the EB-5 industry and the projects it serves/supports to the tune of actually shutting down or discontinuing projects in their tracks.

And while these changes may not be directly related to general changes in the immigration field, particularly since President Trump came into power, they are still part and parcel of the much broader set of changes and adjustments in interpretation in so many other immigration-related areas.

As of February 5, 2020, for example, the U.S. State Department applied new rules to citizens of the Netherlands seeking E1 (Treaty Trader) or E2 (Treaty Investor) visas. Specifically, the validity period was decreased from 5 to 3 years and the fees increase from $0 to $2,228 per person (plus the $205 filing fees per person). That’s a HUGE increase by anyone’s standards.

Also, as of December 23, 2019, without prior notice and of immediate effect, the Department of State (DOS) updated the reciprocity chart to reflect new visa fees and visa validity periods for Australian citizens. The affected visa types are E, F, H, L, and R. For example, the visa issuance fee for the E-1 and the E-2 was increased to $3,574 and the validity period was reduced to 48 months. It must be noted that there are no changes to the E-3 visa as there is still no separate visa issuance fee, and the validity period remains the same at 24 months.

Drastic changes were also implemented in 2019 for French and Israeli citizens seeking E-1 or E-2 visas. For French nationals, the E-2 visa duration was reduced to 25 months from the prior 60 months, which has already had a huge impact on the volume of French citizens applying for E-2 status; similarly, the E-2 will only be granted to Israelis for a maximum of 24 months! And, for French citizens, the maximum validity period of the L-1/L-2 visa stamp is now 17 months, whereas for Israelis the duration has been to reduced to 48 months!

The latest changes in the visa reciprocity schedule has also affected citizens of Austria, China, Italy, Brazil, Malta, Mauritania, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Tajikistan, and San Marino. Please speak with our team directly to find out how these changes might affect you and/or your immigration plans!

While the news is not all bad, and postivive changes continue to be introduced, such as the addition of Israel and New Zealand to the E-2 Visa mix (despite the reduction in the reciprocity period for Israel), there is no doubt that changes will continue to often be introduced without notice or warning. We in the immigration industry are tasked with staying abreast of these changes so that we can properly guide our clients and colleagues, and also to provide solutions to those seeking to move to the U.S. from pretty much anywhere in the world.

To find out more or to explore your immigration options, please contact us by email at info@ecouncilinc.com or by phone at 1-866-724-0085.

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