EB-5 is Offering Extensions Through September
March 30, 2018The EB-5 extension is keeping the visa program around, and the circumstances of the extension have caused mixed reactions.
The program allows foreign investors to obtain a green card by paying a hefty price of investing at least $500,000 into job-creating projects. The program will stay valid until September 30th giving an extension to those interested. The extension was due to the program’s inclusion in the spending bill just passed by Congress.
The program carries a reputation of being the “crack cocaine of real estate financing”. The EB-5 program was initially almost extended for five years until the proposed legislation was hurried earlier this week. Some are viewing this as a victory and some as a loss.
Some major players in the industry were hoping for the permanence of the EB-5. One of those players was Justin Gardinier, founder, and CEO of TigerBridge Capital (formerly JSG Capital).
“Getting six years of certainty on the program — and adjusting to a new reality — ultimately, I think, would have been better for the industry as a whole,” he elaborated to The Real Deal.
Other major industry leaders, one of them being Nick Mastroianni II, CEO, and chairman of the U.S. Immigration Fund, was relieved.
In his statement, he said, “we are grateful that the leaders of Congress did not let a small group of legislators, who did not share their proposed changes to their fellow members or the public until the very end, ram through a bill that would have mortally wounded or destroyed the EB-5 program.” As word of the legislation circulated, several industry leaders were favorable when the TRD spoke with them this past January.
Senator, Chuck Grassley, who was a strong supporter of the legislation, ranted on twitter last week when he learned the proposal was off the table and no longer going to be considered. He blamed the “moneyed interests” of “Manhattan real estate moguls” for the failure of the legislation to pass.
Grassley’s proposed law would have extended the EB-5 visa program until 2023, and allocated 1,450 visas for projects nestled in rural areas and raised the minimum investment to $925,000.
