As is well known, due to the failure of the U.S. Congress and the White House to reach an agreement on funding for President Trump's border wall project, the U.S. federal government officially partially shut down at 00:01 local time on the 22nd (13:00 Beijing time on the 22nd). This means that the EB-5 Regional Center Program, which is tied to the government budget, has also been suspended.
Following the suspension of the EB-5 Regional Center Program, there has been constant speculation regarding EB-5 investment immigration, and the progress and processing status of various EB-5 stages have become a focal point of urgent concern for EB-5 applicants recently.
Recently, USCIS issued an announcement on its official website providing a unified response regarding the receipt and processing of various application forms associated with the EB-5 Regional Center Program during the government shutdown. USCIS will not accept new applications for Regional Center designation (Form I-924) and has suspended the processing of this category; USCIS requires Regional Centers to continue submitting their annual certifications for the 2018 fiscal year (Form I-924A); USCIS continues to accept Form I-526 and Form I-485 applications but has suspended the processing of such applications; USCIS confirms that the filing and processing of Form I-829 applications are not affected by the government shutdown.
Experts from Worldway Group state that although the suspension of the EB-5 Regional Center Program has led USCIS to pause the processing of some new applications related to the program, Form I-526 and Form I-485 applications are still being accepted, and Form I-829 is not affected in any way. For investors, there is no need to be overly concerned; the government will not remain in a shutdown state indefinitely. Congress needs to reach an agreement on the federal budget as soon as possible. Although the partisan dispute continues, a compromise will eventually be reached. Therefore, it is highly likely that the EB-5 Regional Center Program will be included and receive an extension, at which point USCIS processing and consular interviews will return to normal.
Worldway Group will continue to monitor the latest developments regarding when Congress will enact legislation to reauthorize, extend, or modify the Regional Center Program and will provide timely follow-up reports. For more details, please call: 400-138-2929.