What Does This Suspension of Entry of Immigrants Mean And How Long Will It Last?

This Executive Order temporarily suspends the entry of any person under an immigrant visa for 60 days, who is outside of the United States, that does not have a valid immigrant visa after the effective date of the Executive Order, or those who do not have an official travel document other than a visa (such as an advance parole document) that is valid on the effective date of this proclamation or issued on any date thereafter that permits him or her to travel to the United States and seek entry or admission.

This temporary suspension of entry to the United States only applies to people who are outside of the country seeking to enter and be admitted into the country as immigrant visa holders. The Executive Order excludes a wide variety of immigrant visa holders, including those who are applying for an immigrant visa to enter the United States under the EB-5 Program and those seeking entry under a Special Immigrant Visa.

Will Green Card Holders Be Affected?

In addition, the temporary suspension will not apply to current Green Card holders, spouses, and children under 21 or adoptees of US Citizens. The executive order also excludes any alien who’s entry is of national interest, including those aliens along with their spouse and children under 21 on an immigrant visa as a physician, nurse, or other healthcare professionals; to perform medical research or other research intended to combat the spread of COVID-19; or to perform work essential to combating, recovering from, or otherwise alleviating the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak.

As stated before, this executive order shall expire after 60 days of its effective date of April 23^rd, 2020, but the President can extend it under the recommendation of the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of State.

Are Immigrants Already Admitted To The US Impacted?

The executive order does not affect any immigrant already admitted into the United States, and nothing has been mentioned as of this moment as to extending the temporary hold to those Petitioners under the undergoing Adjustment of Status inside the United States. Most importantly, USCIS will likely continue to accept and review immigrant petitions. Please note that this will not affect timelines for new Petitioners since they will be many years away from approval. Please also note that almost all consular posts have already ceased operations anyway.

We Will Stay Open To Answer Your Questions

Please be assured that our office will continue to monitor any developments to this new proclamation, and we will update you accordingly.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Wishing you health and safety,

The Rahbaran Law Team

The post Important Update On US Immigration Ban During COVID-19 – April 23, 2020 appeared first on Rahbaran & Associates.

Green Card holders should be eligible to receive stimulus payments if they previously filed tax returns in the United States, this also applies to EB-5 Investors already living in the United States, even if they have not filed a tax return for 2018 or 2019. The only requirement for them would be to file a tax return stating their SSN.

What about if I’m working in the United States under a Nonimmigrant visa (E-2, L-1, or H1-B)?

According to the CARES Act, if you are on a visa (E-2, L-1, etc.), you are eligible to receive the stimulus check if you pass the so-called Green Card Test.   Instead of basing the distribution on immigration status, the government decided that if you are a resident for tax purposes, you will get the stimulus check.  In sum, regardless of your visa (“F”, “A” or “G” Visas are excluded from this rule), you are a resident for tax purposes if you have been in the U.S. for more than 183 days in the last year.

Tax residents file a 1040 IRS form while non-residents, such as a B-1/B-2 visa holder, file a 1040 NR (Non-Resident) IRS form.  The stimulus payment that is made will be made through your IRS tax account, and it will be based on your 2018 or 2019 tax return.  The payments are phased out as your income increases, and while the payment will be made based on your income level in 2018 or 2019 as an estimate, the actual payment will be based on the 2020 tax return.   When you file that return, you will true up the amount.  If your income in 2020 exceeds the threshold, you will be required to pay back some or all of the funds.  The idea is that the payment is supposed to assist with economic hardship in 2020.

Therefore, if you have filed tax returns in the U.S. over the past few years, and you meet all eligibility criteria set out in the CARES Act (which narrows down to having a valid SSN and be classified as a Resident-Alien by the IRS), you should receive the stimulus package payment.

Married, but the wife is not working?

Many nonimmigrant workers bring their families to the United States with them; hence, their spouses and children have particular benefits as dependents, such as the possibility of applying for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD). This is the case for an E-2 visa holder and its dependents. Still, other nonimmigrant visa categories do not allow dependents to obtain an EAD, as it’s the case with a T.N. visa holder (Principal Applicant) and its dependent (T.D.), who is not allowed to obtain an EAD.

Then, eligibility criteria for Resident Aliens vary, depending on how you filed your last tax return. Many people file as “Married filing Jointly” even if the wife does not have a work permit in the United States, needless to say, this is entirely legal.

When a dependant or derivative of a principal visa applicant files a tax return jointly with their spouse, they can do so with an Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN), or if they have an EAD, they can file a tax return using their SSN.

To establish eligibility, we’ll consider the E-2 visa category as the Principal and the E-2 Derivative to guide the possible eligibility criteria in the following table. We have listed them to the best of our knowledge.

This table was created as per the best information available directly on the IRS website.

Stimulus Package Table

According to the National Law Center, the IRS will exclude people who filed “Married filing Jointly” returns if the spouse or anyone in the family does not have SSN, as reported by MiamiHerald. However, the rules are still being updated by the IRS. You can see the IRS rules here.

The same applies to L-2 dependents, but the crude reality is that many visa dependents use an ITIN until they get their own EAD. Therefore, if they have filed a joint tax return with their spouse who has an SSN, it automatically makes them ineligible to receive the stimulus check unless they obtain an SSN, as it’s shown in the first example of the table.

If your taxes were filed using an ITIN in 2018, but your spouse has now an EAD and Social Security Number, you should submit your 2019 tax returns with your spouse’s SSN as early as possible to be eligible for the check.

If you have any questions, contact us at Rahbaran Law here and we’ll help direct you through your immigration process and this time.

The post What the CARES Act and the Stimulus Package mean for EB-5 Visa Holders and Non-immigrant Visa Holders living in the United States. appeared first on Rahbaran & Associates.

It’s a change to how I-526 petitions will be prioritized for adjudication. At Rahbaran & Associates, we’ve created a blog separately for this topic here.

Prior to the new visa availability approach, I-526 petitions were processed on a first-in, first-out approach. This means that they use to be processed in the order that they were received.  Now, under this new visa availability approach, they are processed based on visa availability per country.

Potential EB-5 investors from countries where visas are immediately available will have their pending I-526 petitions prioritized. EB-5 investors from underrepresented or smaller countries will benefit from this new processing change.

What country or countries are affected by the processing change?

For decades, the majority of EB-5 visa demand came from China.

Since I-526 petitions were being processed in the order received, most of the I-526 petitions being processed came from Chinese investors due to pure volume. With this, Chinese demand for EB-5s far exceeded supply, and the USA using the first-in, first-out adjudication process, spent time and resources processing I-526 petitions for Chinese investors despite a limited supply of available visas for the Chinese. Under the new visa availability approach, these petitions will no longer be prioritized until visas become available again.

Which countries will benefit from the new visa availability approach?

According to the EB-5 stakeholder meeting in March, EB-5 investors from China are the only ones affected by the processing change.

Some speculated that India and Vietnam may also be affected, but it’s not the case for the near future. In fact, according to Charles Oppenheim, the Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division, predicted that India, which currently has a visa backlog, will have a final action date on the visa bulletin by this summer of 2020.

On the other side, EB-5 investors who were born in countries where visas are immediately available will see their I-526 petitions prioritized regardless of when they filed their petitions.

Can I-526 petitions still be expedited?

The USCIS will continue to review expedite requests, and if/when approved, the EB-5 investor’s petition will be taken out of order for processing and immediately prioritized.

What key information does the State Department Visa Bulletin provide for EB-5 investors?

Chart A: Final Action Dates

This chart shows when an EB-5 investor may schedule an interview and be issued conditional permanent residence. There are currently only three countries facing visa backlogs: China, India, and Vietnam. EB-5 investors must see if their priority date is on or before the date listed in the chart. If so, they may proceed in the process and schedule an interview. All other countries remain current as of now.

Chart B: Dates for Filing

This chart is one-factor USCIS will use to determine which petitions will be prioritized under the new visa availability approach discussed here. All countries for April 20th, 2020 are current except for China. The dates for filing for Mainland China EB-5 investors is December 15, 2015 under the new approach. Applicants with a priority date earlier than the date listed in the chart may submit their visa application.

What is the current processing time for the I-526 petition at the Immigrant Investor Program Office?

The current processing time estimated range is approximately 30 months – 50 months.

For questions please contact us or get your EB-5 started here.

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I-526 (EB-5) Changes Effective March 31st In Detail

As described by IPO Chief Sarah Kendall and DOS Visa Control Office Chief Charles Oppenheim, the visa availability approach (or VAA, for short) will prioritize I-526 adjudications for visas that are either immediately available or soon will be. This will apply to all I-526 petitions that were not assigned as of March 31^st, including petitions that are currently pending in the pipeline. When deciding which I-526 applications will not be assigned for adjudication, the IPO will consult the Chart B Dates for Filing from the Visa Bulletin. So long as the filing date for a petition does not fall within the dates in which a visa application can be filed, the petition will not be assigned for adjudication for that month.

Petitions with an approved expedite request will continue to be assigned for adjudication, no matter which country the petitioner is from. However, if the petitioner comes from a country held back by the VAA but has another visa available from their spouse, they can contact IPO to go over the situation with them.

The VAA has not changed the rules when it comes to visa availability, noting that the per-country cap and EB-5 quota is not changing either. This is because, according to USCIS, the VAA will keep the number of leftovers to a minimum in order to ensure that other applicants from around the world can maximize their visas. According to Oppenheim, the number of leftover visas is expected to remain the same.

The representative from USCIS declined to provide an answer regarding the I-526’s backlog, but we do know that the VAA will prioritize petitioners who come from low volume countries. Now, regarding low I-526 completion rates, an issue that was also present a year ago, Kendall stated that vetting efforts from the VAA have increased in an attempt to find any potential signs of abuse, fraud, or other disqualifications. Identifying any possible such disqualifying signs are vital to the success of the EB-5 program in order to ensure that only petitioners who lack such disqualifications are awarded. New data in regard to the adjudication backlog is expected to be published by the USCIS Office of Performance and Quality by mid-April.

Kendall (USCIS) further states that the Office of Performance and Quality would revise processing times for the I-526 due to the VAA changes. However, as many of us would like to see, there is currently not a plan to display any processing times for specific countries.

Oppenheim was also asked about what effect the COVID-19 situation would have in regard to consular processing, as consulates are currently closed due to the virus. Oppenheim stated that USCIS would have to do the very best it can. He also indicated that India is projected to become current in the summer, pending the receipt of increased numbers of approved petitions at the National Visa Center.

As these changes take effect, feel free to reach out to us at Rahbaran Law with any questions, concerns, or ability/availability to get started or continue on your EB-5 petition in 2020.

The post USCIS change in I-526 adjudication process from a first-in-first-out process to the Visa Availability Approach appeared first on Rahbaran & Associates.

Examples of the dozens of changes that have been made in the last week include putting deportation flights on hold, pausing immigration hearings, and forbidding USCIS staff from interacting with members of the general public face-to-face. Perhaps most notable has been the response of the USCIS to the outbreak and the closure of their field offices throughout the country to mitigate the possible proliferation of the virus.

USCIS Temporarily Shuts Down Offices

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, commonly known as USCIS, has announced that as of last week they will be temporarily shutting down offices throughout the country as a response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The announcement was formally made on March 18^th and will remain in effect until at least April 1^st. However, there has been no formal word on whether the offices would officially open on that date. Staff members of the USCIS will be expected to continue to perform their duties so long as they do not involve direct contact with the public.

This applies to USCIS field offices, application support centers, and asylum offices. A memo released by the USCIS announced hat “USCIS field offices would send notices to applicants and petitioners with scheduled appointments and naturalization ceremonies impacted by this closure.”

As a result, all face-to-face scheduled interviews have been temporarily postponed. Emergency services are also limited, and staff members can only perform work and tasks that do not involve direct or close contact with members of the general public.

The USCIS also has sent out cancellation notices to any applicant that was scheduled to take interviews at USCIS offices. However, the agency has also stated that they will be automatically rescheduling these interviews at a later but unspecified date.

Joseph Edlow, the Chief of USCIS, has ordered all staff members to suspend all face-to-face services with applicants and for those staff members to work from home on what he termed ‘mission-essential services.’ All naturalization oath ceremonies have been suspended as well, and any existing scheduled ones will be rescheduled for a later but unspecified date.

USCIS also has announced the immediate but temporary suspension of premium processing services for the I-140 and I-129 petitions until ‘further notice.’ Any new requests for premium processing will not be processed, even if the Form I-907 (Request for Premium Processing) had previously been accepted. Batch printed notices will be sent out to applicants, but not with pre-paid envelopes.

The I-907 petitions will be rejected, and he $1,440 filing fee will be dismissed as well and refunded. This applies to all petitions that were mailed before March 20^th, but that had not yet been accepted, and for all categories of those petitions as well.

USCIS will also not be processing premium requests for the H-1B petitions as well. This includes any H-1B cap-subject petitions meant for the 2021 fiscal year and petitions from all previous fiscal years.

Lastly, all USCIS field offices have been either temporarily or permanently closed in other countries throughout the globe. The Justice Department has also closed ten immigration courts across the country until at least April 10th, and all hearings of immigrants who are not in detention have been postponed as well.

This bold move taken by the USCIS represents by far one of the most substantial steps taken yet by the immigration agency as a whole.

Rahbaran Law Stays Open To Help You

Please consider that Rahbaran Law stays open to all new and present clients during this trying time to help aid you and your loved ones in your immigration needs. Please take head of the precautionary measures instructed by the authorities, practice social distancing and stay safe.

Please do not hesitate to contact us in case you need immediate assistance or have any
questions related to your future or present immigration matters.

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The final rule proposed an increase in the minimum investment threshold from $1,000,000 to $1,800,000. This is the first and only increase the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program has had since its conception in 1990, and it is important to point out that the final rule establishes the need for this increase only to account for inflation from the date of the program’s creation and up to 2015. Consequently, the final rule establishes that the minimum investment amount will be revised and increased every five years to account for inflation.

In addition, the final rule will respect the 50% minimum investment differential when the EB-5 investment is deployed in a TEA, increasing the reduced threshold from $500,000 to $900,000, stating that this amount will also automatically adjust for inflation every five years.

On the second point of revisions, the final rule establishes a reform of the current TEA designation. A TEA is defined by statute as a rural area or an area that has experienced high unemployment (of at least 150 percent of the national average rate). Currently, TEA designations are achieved by combining contiguous census tracts to benefit areas with high unemployment rates, regardless if they are located in metropolitan or non-metropolitan areas. Under the new regulation, TEA’s will be achieved only in non-metropolitan areas, considering only adjacent census tracts of where the project is located.

Most importantly, under the new regulation, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) eliminates the State’s ability to designate TEA’s, and the only entity that will designate these areas will be the aforementioned DHS.

You can view all the changes and announcements by the USCIS here.

When Will These Changes Take Effect?

The effective date for the final rule is November 21^st, 2019.

If you or someone you know is interested in immigrating to the United States, now is not too late and the US is still accepting applications under the new rules. Rahbaran Law can help you obtain your EB-5 visa quickly with a record of 100% approval rate – contact us here to get started.

Conclusion

This year is the first year since 1993 that any significant changes have happened to the EB-5 program. The 4 biggest changes to the program instated by the USCIS are as follows:

1. Raising minimum investment amounts – From $1 million to $1.8 million and $500,000 to $900,000
2. TEA designation reforms
3. Clarifying USCIS procedures for removing conditions on permanent residence
4. Allowing EB-5 petitioners to keep their priority date

These changes make the EB-5 investor visa took effect on November 21st, 2019.

If you would like to invest and gain your green card through an EB-5 visa, we highly recommended getting started today.

The post 2019 EB-5 Changes In Review appeared first on Rahbaran & Associates.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently published final revised rules to the EB-5 investor program, which represent the first significant changes to the program since 1990. Primarily, the changes are designed to make new developments move from wealthy urban areas to more rural areas that are more economically distressed.

For example, the rules increase the threshold for an EB-5 investment and also changes the definition of the TEA’s, or targeted employment areas. These changes are designed to stop foreign investment money from being invested in urbanized areas that are already affluent, so the money will instead be used to help places that are in need of financial rescue.

Let’s discuss the specific new changes and how they will affect you.

EB-5 Increase In Minimum Investment

The first specific rule change in the EB-5 is to increase the minimum investment threshold from $1,000,000 up to $1,800,000. So to you, this means that going forward you’re going to need to invest more money in order to be eligible for the EB-5. The change in the minimum investment threshold was to account for inflation since the previous $1,000,000 had been set in 1990. Furthermore, the EB-5 has been revised to state that the minimum investment amount will be increased each year according to inflation.

Designations of TEA’s

The next major change is that states are no longer permitted to designate either political subdivisions or geographical areas as being high unemployment areas in need of investment (TEA’s). Instead, these designations will be made by the Department of Homeland Security. Previously, the EB-5 visa program offered two-year green cards to foreigners in exchange for an investment of either $1,000,000 or an investment of $500,000 in areas that were designated by the individual states to have high unemployment.

This change in the EB-5 most likely won’t affect you in any meaningful way; just know that the TEA’s, or what is being defined as a ‘high unemployment’ area in the United States, are now being determined by the Department of Homeland Security rather than by the states.

Major Change In Minumum Investment For A TEA

The next major change and one that really does affect you is the fact that the minimum investment for a TEA is being increased from $500,000 to $900,000. Again, this is to account for inflation, and it will continue to increase every five years to account for inflation as well.

These changes to the EB-5 visa program are the changes that are likely to affect you the most. The real estate sector in the United States should not see any major impact from these changes, simply because the EB-5 is not critical to the American real estate sector.

When Will These Changes Take Place?

The changes will also take effect by November 21st of 2019, and the American government is expecting that the result will be far fewer EB-5 projects being qualified for large and thriving investment hubs such as Manhattan.

Instead, more investment funds will be going to more rural areas in need of economic development. As an EB-5 investor, this means that you will likely have a much greater chance of being approved if you opt to invest in a designated TEA area in a rural location (keep in mind that your investment still needs to pay for a minimum of ten full-time jobs for American workers).

Also, take note that all EB-5 petitions that are submitted before the date of November 21st will be grandfathered under the current regulation. This means that you will have a very short amount of time to submit your cases to take advantage of the minimum investment figure of $500,000 for TEA areas (or $1,000,000 for outside of TEA’s). All petitions submitted on or after November 21st will fall under the new regulations, which could put a burden on new EB-5 investors.

Conclusion

In essence, the biggest way the new EB-5 investor program changes affect you is that you need to do begin applying for the EB-5 now before November 21st rolls around. Soon, the EB-5 visa is going to become considerably more expensive to invest in, so you should get started today before it increases in cost.

Get your EB-5 Investor Petition Started Today!

The post How Do The New Changes To The EB-5 Investor Program Affect You? appeared first on Rahbaran & Associates.

However, this label of the ‘new frontier’ was not met so warmly by the Indian community, at least not at first. Fortunately, upgrades that were made to the H-1B Adjudication greatly increased interest in the EB-5 in India because it decreased the wait time significantly.

As a result, in recent years there has been a large boost of Indian inventors who are greatly increased in the EB-5 in an effort to avoid the long waits of other employment-based categories. Unfortunately, this increase in interest has forged a new problem because of a backlog it has created Visa backlogs, which means that the wait time has unfortunately increased yet again.

Why Do The EB-5 Backlogs Exist In India?

The Immigration and Nationality Act has set strict limits on how many green cards can be issued to foreigners in each category and in each fiscal year. The law is designed so that no foreign nation can get more than 7% of the total available visas.

Under current law, the EB-5 receives 10,000 visas in each fiscal year. This means that India will only be allowed to receive 700 EB-5 visas or 7% of the 10,000 total. Keep in mind that these include the spouses and children of the individual investor as well.

As a result, with the increase of interest in the EB-5 visa in India in recent years and especially with the new EB-5 changes and announcement, you should be able to see how a backlog has naturally been created.

What Are The Current Projections For The EB-5 Delays In India?

A cut off date for the EB-5 visa is projected for this month of August 2019, which means that the 700 visas for Indian nationals is expected to be filled up by this month.

At the very worst, the delay for the EB-5 for Indian nationals is expected to be between five to ten years.

What Can You Do To Avoid The EB-5 Backlog?

First and foremost, if you obtain your immigrant visa or your green card before the cut off date has formally been established, you will most certainly not be subjected to the backlog.

Furthermore, if an investor is eligible and is able to file an adjustment to their status application before the cutoff date as well, you will be able to secure work authorization with a travel permit. You can then continue to renew both the travel permit and the work authorization until the priority date has become current.

Any Indian investor who was born in another country will also not fall under the rules of the Indian visa backlog, because instead, that investor would instead fall under the rules of the Visa laws for the country in which they were born.

Finally, any Indian investor will also be able to use the country of birth for their spouse. This means that if you were born in India but your spouse was born in another country, then your entire family can be counted towards the visa numbers of your spouse’s country instead, and you will not be subject to the backlog of India. However, you will not be able to use the country of birth for your children.

It’s also worth noting that it’s possible for some of your family members to get stuck in the Visa backlog but for your other family members to not get stuck. For example, maybe you have a child in school and you are very hesitant to pull them out. This means that you would need to postpone their Visa interview if you do not want to pull them out, which would, in turn, mean that your entire family could be approved for the EB-5 but your child still in school will not, and if the cut off date occurs before their interview, they will then be subject to the backlog. It’s just something that you will want to keep in mind.

Conclusion 

In conclusion, it will be difficult but not impossible to avoid EB-5 backlog. Even if your Visas are not approved before the cut off date, you have other options such as using the country of your birth or your spouse’s country of birth if one or neither of you were born in India. In the event that you have no other options and you do fall under the backlog, you should be prepared for the possibility that you will not be approved for another five to six years.

With the news of the EB-5 visa increasing in cost from $500,000 to $900,000 in November, there are only a few months left to file your petition at $500,000. Trust a firm with a 100% approval rate that can turn your case around quickly and efficiently like Rahbaran Law Firm.

Get Started Today

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On July 23, 2019, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it would publish on July 24^th, 2019 the Final Rule that makes several substantial changes to the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program.

This is the first substantial and significant revision to the EB-5 Program since the Regional Center Pilot Program was introduced in 1993. Therefore, the revision of the program will concentrate in two main areas, which are (1) the investment threshold required to participate in the EB-5 program, and (2) the revision of two main key points in the designation of current and new Targeted Employment Areas (TEA’s).

The Significant Changes To The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program

Addressing these changes, in particular, the final rule proposes an increase in the minimum investment threshold from $1,000,000 to $1,800,000. This is the first and only increase the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program has had since its conception in 1990, and it is important to point out that the final rule establishes the need for this increase only to account for inflation from the date of the program’s creation and up to 2015. Consequently, the final rule establishes that the minimum investment amount will be revised and increased every five years to account for inflation.

In addition, the final rule will respect the 50% minimum investment differential when the EB-5 investment is deployed in a TEA, increasing the reduced threshold from $500,000 to $900,000, stating that this amount will also automatically adjust for inflation every five years.

On the second point of revisions, the final rule establishes a reform of the current TEA designation. A TEA is defined by statute as a rural area or an area that has experienced high unemployment (of at least 150 percent of the national average rate). Currently, TEA designations are achieved by combining contiguous census tracts to benefit areas with high unemployment rates, regardless if they are located in metropolitan or non-metropolitan areas. Under the new regulation, TEA’s will be achieved only in non-metropolitan areas, considering only adjacent census tracts of where the project is located.

Most importantly, under the new regulation, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) eliminates the State’s ability to designate TEA’s, and the only entity that will designate these areas will be the aforementioned DHS.

You can view all the changes and announcement by the USCIS here.

When Will These Changes Take Effect?

The effective date for the final rule is November 21^st, 2019, but it is established that all EB-5 petitions submitted before this date will be grandfathered under the current applicable regulation. This means that investors have a limited time to prepare and submit their cases, in order to take advantage of the reduced minimum investment of $500,000. All petitions submitted on November 21^st, 2019 and forward will be reviewed under the scrutiny of the newly released “final rule”. the large increase in the minimum investment and change is TEA designation will certainly create a burden on potential investors.

If you or someone you know is interested in immigrating to the United States, now is certainly the time to do so before these changes take effect. Rahbaran Law can help you obtain your EB-5 visa quickly with a record of 100% approval rate – contact us here to get started.

Conclusion

This is the first time since 1993 that any significant changes have happened to the EB-5 program. The 4 biggest changes to the program instated by the USCIS are as follows:

1. Raising minimum investment amounts – From $1 million to $1.8 million and $500,000 to $900,000
2. TEA designation reforms
3. Clarifying USCIS procedures for removing conditions on permanent residence
4. Allowing EB-5 petitioners to keep their priority date

These changes that make the EB-5 investor visa considerably more expensive take effect on November 21st, 2019.

Any petition filed before then applies by the current minimum investment standards of $500,000, making now the best time to apply for an EB-5 visa. If you would like to invest and gain your green card through an EB-5 visa, we highly recommended getting started today.

The post The 4 Most Significant Changes To The EB-5 Program Coming In 2019 appeared first on Rahbaran & Associates.

There really is no clear cut answer here, because there are advantages and risks to each one.  Nonetheless, there aren’t really any stocks that could give you the same kind of investment as buying property along the West Coast (such as in California) in the 1970s and then selling it a few decades later.

If you’re wondering why you should invest in real estate over stocks, we’re going to help you out by clearly defining what real estate and stock investments are, and then we will discuss the main advantages that come with investing in real estate.

Real Estate vs. Stocks

Investing in real estate means that you are buying land or property. Sometimes, real estate can be cash-generating each month (such as an EB-5 investment), such as if you buy apartment buildings or strip malls and then rent them out to tenants. Other times, however, they will require you to pay for things out of your own pockets, such as property taxes and maintenance.

This is one of the big reasons why people are discouraged from buying real estate. That being said, real estate can still appreciate in value over several years (or decades) depending on the status of the national and local economy, the local housing market, and so on.

Buying stocks means that you are buying pieces of a company or a percentage of a company. If a company has 1,000 shares and you buy 100 shares, that means that you would own 10% of the company. If the overall value of the company goes up, the value of your shares will go up as well.

Stocks are one of the most well-known investment options, and it’s easy to see why. Over the course of the last century, the stock market returns have shown them to be an overall good creator of wealth and specifically a source of wealth that does not require any work on your part.

It’s also very easy to diversify with stocks, unlike with real estate where you will need more buying power (such as going through a Regional Center) in order to do so. Stocks also enable you to borrow against the value of them much more easily than real estate does, and finally, since stock prices can fluctuate quickly, it’s possible to make money quickly with them too.

Nonetheless, because stock prices can fluctuate quickly, this can also be a major concern if you don’t know what you’re doing. Stock investing also requires true discipline on behalf of the investor, and if you make any emotional buying decisions you’re going to lose money. Finally, during sidewalks market conditions (which can last for a very long time), you can make little to no money with stocks.

Why Real Estate Instead of Stocks?

Another option to stocks, of course, is to buy real estate. Real estate is actually a more comfortable investment for those in the middle class because it requires less emotional decision making on your part. You also probably grew up being taught the importance of owning a home. There’s a lot of truth to that.

But perhaps the biggest reason to buy real estate over stocks is the fact that buying property or homes means that you are purchasing tangible things. This means that the chances of you being defrauded in real estate are very low in comparisons to stocks, and you can use debts far easier to buy real estate than stocks.

Last but not least, stocks have also traditionally been a good inflation hedge to help protect yourself against losses in the dollar’s purchasing power.

Keep in mind that when you purchase property, you are going to need more capital to do it than stocks. But the advantage here is that you will have more leverage over your money. For example, if you spend $10,000 in securities, that you are effectively getting $10,000 in value.

But if you spend the same amount of money in real estate, you could be buying much more than that when you take into consideration tax-deductible and mortgage interests.

Finally, real estate can save you money. When you sell stocks, you have to pay capital gains tax. When you sell properties, you can defer the capital gains if you buy another property afterward.

Conclusion

Real estate and stocks both have risks and rewards, but real estate is tangible, the chances of you being defrauded over it are very low, and it can help to protect you against losses in the dollar’s purchasing power.

Keep in mind that you don’t have to buy one or the other. It’s often a good idea to diversify your investments if you have the capital to do it.

If you’re looking to invest in real estate inside the US, Rahbaran Law Firm can help you gain your green card in the process through the federally mandated EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. You can contact us here to get started on your investment and immigration process.

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