EB-5 Reform Act Of 2022 Provides Clear Guidance For American Lending Center, Immigrant Investors
Welcome back to Build Your Dream.
American Lending Center is proud to announce a significant milestone under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022. One of our clients successfully received their first green card at the end of May, following the act’s implementation.
ALC has been helping potential immigrants from China and elsewhere work through the EB-5 process since 2009. This reform act passed in March 2022, and made some very significant changes – changes I believe have improved the program for both the clients and the country.
The EB-5 immigrant investor program provides lawful permanent resident status to qualified foreign investors and their families when they invest a predetermined amount in a new enterprise in the United States that creates jobs. The program has successfully fostered economic growth and allowed many the chance to seek the American Dream.
But the law making it happen had to be renewed annually, and quite often rules would change. ALC and our Regional Centers worked hard to keep up, helping our clients through the process and finding projects that both met government requirements and were beneficial to their communities.
Our leaders in Washington D.C. recognized this issue and in 2022 worked to both reform components of the program and enhance accountability and transparency. After more than a year under the new rules, I’m confident when I say the reforms are working – since the act passed, ALC has recruited more investors and infused more dollars into the U.S. economy than ever before.
Some Details
Since its inception, the EB-5 program has offered two paths for investors to earn permanent residency. An individual could invest directly if the required number of jobs could be created. But the more common – and I believe more effective – approach allows Regional Centers to pool investments into a new commercial enterprise that created both direct and indirect jobs.
Under the new act, investment requirements are set through 2027 and will be adjusted for inflation every five years. This certainty allows for better long-term planning for both immigrant investors and projects seeking financing.
The 2022 act also defines high unemployment areas and rural areas, including percentages of immigrant visa set-asides for investments there. These definitions, along with a newly-formed EB-5 Integrity Fund, address the concerns that prompted the Integrity section of the Reform and Integrity Act. The fund is financed through annual regional center fees and a fee for each immigrant petition filed.
ALC Support
I have been a strong proponent of transparency and accountability since we began serving EB-5 clients and projects seeking EB-5 investment, so this addition is good news for ALC. We will continue to support legislation that maintains the integrity of EB-5.
As we worked through the new act, ALC has been approved to operate 14 regional centers. That means we have authorization to develop EB-5 projects in all 48 contiguous states and Washington D.C. In turn, that means we have even more ability to help immigrants and boost U.S. infrastructure and rural communities through investment.
So far, the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 is working as our legislators planned and we hoped it would. That helps Build Your Dream.
John Shen
CEO & co-founder
American Lending Center
About American Lending Center: A Financial Times (FT) America’s Fastest Growing Company
American Lending Center (ALC) is a private nonbank lending institution and nationally recognized leader in small business lending.
In early 2024, ALC has fully financed senior loan products to 94 qualified EB-5 projects in 31 states, contributing to a combined construction and business expansion budget of over 1.2 billion dollars. ALC’s lending practice has successfully created more than 20,000 new jobs nationwide since 2009.
In 2022, ALC launched its new rural construction and development fund with capital available for the construction of fixed assets of all types in rural areas including manufacturing, energy, infrastructure, hospitality, specialty use, multi-use and other project types. Follow American Lending Center on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.