Question:

While there is some uncertainty associated with the Comprehensive Immigration Reform, the amount necessary for an EB-5 visa will be remaining $500,000. the EB-5 Unit of USCIS recently released a new policy manual for adjudications, and the amount of investment has not changed. As we keep up-to-date with the EB-5 program, we have not seen any indication of a change such as this.

Actually, the true minimum investment amount is $1,000,000.00 and is merely reduced by half under specific conditions. The lower amount is allowed for an investment in Targeted Employment Area (TEA). A TEA is either 1.) an area that meets the legal definition of a Rural Area, see 8 CFR 204.6(e), or an area of high unemployment, also defined in the same section. While I have cited the implementing regulations, those regs are based on statutory definitions which means that they are not very different from each other.

Do NOT buy into the myth that any Regional Center investment qualifies at the lower rate! Also, some folks have a hard time understanding what actually qualifies as a "Rural Area", many mistakes are made about that. Do your Due Diligence and do it well.