On December 21st, the federal government shutdown when the President didn’t sign the extension into law. This would have extended the EB-5 Regional Center Program, which was up for renewal.

Thus, by not signing the bill, and closing down the government, the EB-5 Regional Center Program was affected. The key takeaways for EB-5 applicants and potential investors include:

• No new I-526 Petitions can be mailed and filed until the shutdown is resolved and the EB-5 Regional Center is extended or made permanent.
• EB-5 I-526 Petitions, can still, however, be prepared. Potential EB-5 investors can work with an EB-5 immigration attorney to prepare their petition to be filed as soon as the government opens.
• Investors who have already begun their process, must still prepare and responds to USCIS requests for evidence (RFE), notices of intent to deny (NOID), and I-829 Petitions.
• The State Department will not be scheduling new immigrant visa interviews until the government opens. If an investor had a scheduled interview and was not notified of its cancellation, the investor should still plan to attend their interview, but should not expect to be issued visas until the government shutdown is over.
• If an investor is currently in the process of adjusting their status, they will not be able file a new adjustment of status application until the government reopens and the program is extended.
• Again, investors should continue answering any request for more information from USCIS, and they should do so in a timely manner in order to keep the process from slowing down further.
• Expect delays and slowdowns from the State Department during the government shutdown and plan with your family accordingly.
• The January 2019 EB-5 Visa Bulletin’s final action dates for the Regional Center Program will remain “U” or unauthorized until the government shutdown ends and the program is extended.

For more information about what to expect, send us a message! [formidable id="11" title="1"]