News from Washington on the progress of the EB-5 extension:
The Senate is scheduled to vote at approximately 4:00 pm EDT on the final version of the Fiscal Year 2010 Homeland Security Appropriations Act, which contains numerous immigration provisions including the extension of the EB-5 Visa Program through October 1, 2012.
If this vote actually takes place and is successful for us it means the bill will make its way to President Obama to be signed into law.
We will keep you up to date here at the Which EB5 Blog or you can follow us on Twitter Which EB5
It is anticipated that the Senate will take up the Homeland Security conference agreement this week (as early as Tuesday). This should clear the path for the Bill to be sent to the President for signing into law the 3-year extension of the EB-5 visa program among other measures. We will keep you up to date with the news from Washington.
We are at the AILA EB-5 conference in San Francisco this week to meet with Regional Center owners and specialist EB-5 immigration attorneys and will advise you of all important developments live from this venue.
Follow WhichEB5 on Twitter for up to the minute information on all matters relating to EB-5.
According to our sources in Washington we are on our way to the anticipated 3-year extension to the EB-5 pilot program. Here is what we know right now:
House and Senate conferees today reached agreement on how to resolve the differing provisions in the House-passed and Senate-passed versions of the fiscal year 2010 Homeland Security Appropriations bill. Conferees included a three year-long extension of the E-Verify Program in the measure, and they included three year extensions of three expiring immigration visa programs (including EB-5). Today’s conference committee action readies the measure for consideration by the full House and full Senate. The text of the conference agreement was not available at the time of this writing.
“Visa Extensions: Provides three year authorization extensions for the religious worker (R visa), rural-serving doctors (Conrad 30-J visa), and investor (EB-5 visa) programs”.
The final three-year compromise emerged after a very contentions internal debate and a nearly successful effort by some members of Congress to eliminate all immigration extenders from the bill. Communications from the EB-5 regional centers to their individual members of Congress and from the entire EB-5 stakeholder community to congressional leadership were an extremely important factor in the decision to include the extensions.
The conference version of the bill will now go to the House and Senate for final votes in the next few days and then to President Obama for signature. The final votes are expected to be a formality.
We will keep you informed of all developments of the EB-5 pilot program here at the Which EB5 Blog.
Sources in Washington tell Which EB-5 that three immigration issues (including the EB-5 visa) will get a 3-year extension. This has NOT been confirmed as yet.
Here is the actual information we have at this time:
“House and Senate negotiators last night reached agreement on the differing provisions in the House-passed and Senate-passed versions of the fiscal year 2010 Homeland Security Appropriations bill. The House and Senate conferees on the measure have set a meeting for 1:00 pm today to formalize the agreement”.
Watch this space for more EB-5 visa news from Washington.
The Senate have cleared the bill extending the EB-5 program for a one month temporary extension. President Obama is expected to sign the just cleared bill tonight. Word in Washington is that Congress could take up longer term extension within the next two days.
Stay tuned to the Which EB5 Blog for the latest updates and news on all EB-5 Visa matters.
Many calls, messages and emails this week from potential EB-5 investors concerning the strength or otherwise of the U.S. economy and its potential effect on the future of the EB-5 visa.
It is important that potential EB-5 investors see exactly how they US economy can have an effect, positive or negative, on thier choice of Regional Center project.
As an immigrant myself, (I’ve been resident since 1991) who arrived in America during an economic downtown, I can say that this one is different. (Slight understatement there) What I can also say is that overwhelmingly, the American people, through history, have shown an amazing resilience to adversity. That said, we have a lot to put right. But then so does the rest of the world.
I do believe, that despite the current economic climate, and the bickering in Washington over A.I.G bonuses, we are just beginning to see the first signs that a bottom is in sight. But please don’t take my word for it. Below is the first video in a set of two (the second one out tomorrow) which show an amazing alignment of views from a) perhaps the worlds most powerful banker, chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke and b) perhaps the worlds most prominent, long-term successful businessman Warren Buffet (second most welathy man in the USA) head of Berkshire Hathaway.
Take a look at the video from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke (I assure you it’s worth your time) and note the specific points of light he sees. We will then compare these to the points that are raised by Warren Buffet in tomorrow’s video and you will see why I beleive the USA will lead the rest of the world out of this current downturn.
Feel free to contact us with comments and concerns using this blog, Twitter or Skype.
The Washington Post reported that the Senate gave final approval Tuesday night to a $410 billion spending bill to fund most of the federal government for the remainder of the year, after overcoming a resilient Republican opposition and several Democratic defections. Included within this bill was a further six month extension for the EB-5 regional center pilot program which will now carry through until September 2009. The bill will now be passed through for Presidential signature – so what does this all mean?
If you have already applied for the visa, processing will continue. The consideration of petition applications has now considerably speeded up – this week we have had I-526’s approved for clients who submitted petitions only four months ago! However processing times will depend upon the chosen regional center.
If you are coming up for Consulate interview be aware that we have had feedback that these can be challenging at certain consulates – we do provide feedback to our clients on the experience of previous petitioners.
If you are planning to apply for a visa you may want to do this sooner rather than later as of yet a longer extension to the regional center program has not been granted – reports that a five year extension until 2013 has been granted ARE INCORRECT. There have been attempts to achieve a five year extension but so far these have failed and there are difficult hurdles to overcome, so to get applications through in the current six month timetable you need to act sooner rather than later.
If you are seeking information on the track record of the current programs and the implications:-
Including
• Why American Life has remodelled the size of its latest project?
• What are the likely impacts of the latest cinema reports on the CanAm LA Time Warner film program?
• What has been the experience of applicants on the CMB program?
• What are the likely impacts in the property and recreational markets on the Vermont Jay Peak program?
• What are the results of our research into the program focusing on assisted care provision?
For more information please contact Andrew Bartlett or Stephen Parnell at Which EB5
US: 561 771 1330
UK: 020 3004 9720
Canada:289 470 1464
Ireland: 01 657 1718
WhichEB5.com, its owners and associates, do not function as attorneys or legal counsel and do not attempt to interpret immigration law and do not provide or offer legal advice or legal services or investment advice. Anyone considering an Investment based Visa should seek independent professional advice. The information on this site is intended to be general and should not be relied upon for any specific situation. Any reference to designated regional centers on this website is posted as reference material only. For legal advice, please contact one of our attorneys. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Results depend upon a variety of factors unique to each person.
