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Highlights of the Settlement Agreement Regarding the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 - An Overview
by David H. Nachman, Esq., Ludka Zimovcak, Esq., Snehal Batra, Esq. and Samantha Chasworth, Esq.
On August 24, 2022, the parties (the US Citizenship and Immigration Services [USCIS], the Department of Homeland Security [DHS], and stakeholders) involved in the lawsuit regarding the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 filed a settlement agreement (the "Agreement"). The agreement clarified previously certified regional centers’ status and other procedures for filing documents relevant to the EB-5 program. Thus, this article provides highlights of the Agreement.
Highlights of the Agreement are as follows:
• Regional centers that were previously approved (i.e., existing RCs) are deemed to be in “good standing” before June 30, 2021. Moreover, such existing RCs have not lost their designation because the Integrity Act was enacted.
• Existing RCs have to file Form I-956 as an amendment to sponsor new investors. The final date to file the document with USCIS is December 29, 2022. The document must provide evidence that the existing RC has met the required Integrity Act procedures and policies. An existing RC that completes and files this document can sponsor investors and keep its previous geographic designation area without needing to wait for approval or further showing. That said, existing RCs must submit new project plans and economic analyses to request an expansion of a prior area to contiguous areas.
• USCIS will return to its decision in its previous designation notices when adjudicating existing RCs’ Form I-956s. It will do so when judging specific issues and use attachments included in past filings to make its determinations.
A New Policy
• Form I-956Es within the Form I-956 process should have evidence of a receipt notice from an I-956F project application. However, USCIS has implemented a new policy to help manage processing delays. This policy states that EB-5 investors can use filing fee payment and evidence of physical delivery of a Form I-956F as evidence of receipt notice for Form I-956E if USCIS takes over 10 days to issue a receipt for Form I-956F. They can also then file the receipt numbers after they receive them. This policy is also applicable to I-956Fs that are filed already. For the first 16 weeks at least after the Agreement is approved by the judge, USCIS will issue receipt notices for I-956F via email.
• USCIS will consider the new Forms I-956, I-956F, I-956G, I-956H, and I-526E interim until the notice and comment rulemaking concludes. The comments deadline is October 24, 2022.
• Within 21 days of the judge approving the settlement, USCIS will publish an FAQ about it to help others learn about it in greater detail.
About The Author
David H. Nachman, Esq. is one of the Managing Attorneys at the Nachman Phulwani Zimovcak (NPZ) Law Group, P.C., a pre-eminent International Immigration and Nationality Law Firm dedicated to providing a wide array of business and family immigration law services for skilled U.S.-and Canada-bound workers. The Attorneys in our Law Firm assist clients with waivers, marriage cases, citizenship applications, I-130 sponsorship for family, etc.
If you have any questions about how the immigration and nationality laws in the United States may impact you or your family members or if you want to access additional information about the United States or Canadian immigration and nationality laws, please feel free to get in touch with the immigration and nationality lawyers at NPZ Law Group. You can send us an email at info@visaserve.com or you can call us at 201-670-0006 extension 104. In addition, we invite you to find more information on our website at www.visaserve.com
Ludka Zimovcak, Esq. is a Managing Attorney at NPZ Law Group, PC. Mrs. Zimovcak's passion for excellence in immigration law derives from her own family's first-hand immigration experiences. She is fully licensed to practice as an Attorney in Slovakia and New York
Snehal Batra, Esq. is Managing Attorney of our Raritan, NJ office at the Nachman Phulwani Zimovcak (NPZ) Law Group, P.C., a pre-eminent International Immigration and Nationality Law Firm dedicated to providing a wide array of business and family immigration law services for skilled U.S.-and Canada-bound workers. Ms. Batra is an Indian-American attorney with a passion for immigration law which derives from being an immigrant herself. Having been born in India and raised in New Jersey, Ms. Batra understands firsthand the many difficulties and challenges that immigrants commonly experience while engaged in the U.S. immigration process. As such, she is eager to help families, businesses and individual immigrants to realize the American dream.
Samantha Chasworth, Esq. is Counsel at the Nachman Phulwani Zimovcak (NPZ) Law Group, P.C., a pre-eminent International Immigration and Nationality Law Firm dedicated to providing a wide array of business and family immigration law services for skilled U.S.-and Canada-bound workers. Ms. Chasworth earned a Juris Doctorate (JD) from the St. John's University School of Law in Queens, New York, where she was an editor on the Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development and participated in numerous immigration and family law clinics and internships including time at the US-Mexico Border at the Karnes County Civil Detention Center.
