contents of the I-956 and the required supporting documents would only be available on May 14 , essentially the end of the 60 days . Nobody had a clear idea of how long they intended to take to review these new recertification applications of the existing RCs . Naturally , this built a lot of tension between the industry and USCIS . RCs , existing investors , and potential investors patiently waiting to file new I-526 petitions were all frustrated with two lawsuits pending disputing USCIS ’ s strict interpretation of the new law .
Luckily , on June 24 , 2022 , Judge Vince Chhabria of the Federal District Court for the Northern District of California issued a preliminary injunction ruling . His ruling reversed the USCIS decision in April that removed the authorization of all formerly designated EB-5 Regional Centers based on its almost certainly erroneous interpretation of the new law U . S . Congress passed in March . Investors were again allowed to file new immigration petitions while the agency would create new regulations for implementation .
While the new law did not bring much-needed relief to the pending investors of retrogressed countries such as China , the visa set-asides for TEAs , especially for rural projects , did for new applicants from these countries . They could significantly benefit from priority processing should they invest in a rural project . 4 deny that the law , being precise by definition , is vague and open to various interpretations until USCIS publishes clear guidance . Nevertheless , given the clear intent of no more pooling of direct investments , we hope that attorneys and dealmakers will not push the envelope in structuring transactions that could be in line with the letter of the law but not the spirit of the law .
INTERPRETATION OF THE NEW RIA
The 60-day period the new law granted was supposed to help them issue interim guidelines to ensure the successful resumption of the program without further delay . Instead , USCIS interpreted the new law to mean that they needed to recertify RCs whether they were in business for many years or were brand newcomers to the market . All RCs would have to be subject to the same recertification process by filling out the required I-956 form to be eligible to submit the I-924 projectrelated application . Until an RC was recertified , sent in this information about the EB-5 project , and obtained a receipt that USCIS had received their application , no investor would be allowed to file their I-526 petitions . Most established RCs would have welcomed this interpretation if they had known how long this new process would take . Unfortunately , USCIS , in a public listening forum they held on April 29 , announced that the
" The legislation allows the concurrent filing of the EB-5 application through the I-526 petition with the I-485 adjustment of the status petition if the investor is not from a retrogressed country in the visa category they are seeking and has a valid visa "
The legislation allows the concurrent filing of the EB-5 application through the I-526 petition with the I-485 adjustment of the status petition if the investor is not from a retrogressed country in the visa category they are seeking and has a valid visa such as an F-1 student visa or H-1B work visa or E-2 investor visa . 5 Together with the I-485 , the investor could file I-131 , Application for Travel Document , and I-765 , Employment Authorization Document ( EAD ). Assuming that their EAD gets approved , college students could get a summer job during college without using OPT . H-1B is subject to a lottery . A student with an approved EAD and an already filed green card application can bypass the H-1B process . As a result , their
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