Understanding the Differences Between EB-5 Rural Projects and High Unemployment Projects

The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa Program offers foreign investors the opportunity to obtain a green card by investing in job-creating projects in the United States.

Investors investing in the Regional Center Program may take advantage of the reduced required investment amount of $800,000 when investing in a new commercial enterprise principally doing business in a targeted employment area (TEA).

There are approximately 10,000 visas available during each fiscal year for immigrant investors (including their spouses and unmarried children under the age of 21).

When Congress reauthorized the Regional Center Program in March 2022, it introduced and allocated three expedited (set-aside) categories: 20% of the EB-5 visas for investors in rural areas, 10% for investors in high unemployment areas and 2% for investors in infrastructure projects.

This blog post explores the differences between EB-5 rural projects and high unemployment projects to help potential investors make informed decisions.

Definitions of Rural and High Unemployment Areas

Under immigration law, a rural area is any area other than an area within a metropolitan statistical area (as designated by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget) or within the outer boundary of any city or town having a population of 20,000 or more (based on the most recent decennial census of the United States).

A high unemployment area is an area designated as such by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) that is comprised of the census tract or tracts in which the new commercial enterprise is principally doing business, which may also include certain adjacent census tract or tracts, and in which the weighted average unemployment rate of the tract or tracts is at least 150% of the national average rate.

Fastest Adjudication of Rural Projects

Under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA), foreign investors participating in EB-5 projects located in rural areas can benefit from priority processing of their petitions by USCIS. This means that their I-526E applications are reviewed and adjudicated at an accelerated pace, which, under current government processing times, could be as short as between three and six months for certain well-established rural projects. As a result, investors and their families may receive approval for their green cards in a significantly shorter timeframe.

Due to the popularity of the EB-5 program and the limited number of visas available each year, applicants from certain countries often experience lengthy wait times before their petitions are processed. However, by investing in rural projects as specified under the RIA, investors from these backlog countries, such as India and China, may be able to bypass years of additional waiting.

Slightly different from rural projects, high unemployment projects do receive priority adjudication by USCIS, but our Fragomen EB-5 professionals note that the initial EB-5 petition is adjudicated in approximately 12 months. While they may not necessarily be quite as fast-tracked as rural projects at the moment, strategic selection of the right high unemployment projects can still lead to relatively faster adjudication. Investors who follow careful counsel can choose the right project for themselves, ensuring they are in the best position to receive their green cards as securely and expeditiously as possible.

Need to know more?

For more information about EB-5 rural projects and high unemployment projects, please contact Partner Rahul Soni at [email protected] and Senior Associate Xiaodan (Susan) Song at [email protected].

This blog was published on April 17, 2024, and due to the circumstances, there are frequent changes. To keep up to date with all the latest updates on global immigration, please subscribe to our alerts and follow us on LinkedIn, X, Facebook and Instagram.