MIAMI—Created in 1990, the EB-5 program allows international investors to fund job-creating projects in exchange for green cards and subsequently, citizenship for themselves and their family members. Minimum investment is $1 million with $500,000 being accepted in some high-unemployment areas.

With fraud plaguing a good amount of EB-5 deals, a new USCIS rule is going into effect Nov 21. Two aspects of the rule will impact developers.

1.  Minimum investment amounts are raised from $1M to $1.8M or in the case of a targeted employment area (TEA), $500K to $900K. Every five years, these minimum investment amounts will also automatically adjust up.
2. Rather than state agencies, the Department of Homeland Security, will designate the TEAs – those geographic locales where only half of the normal investment amount will be accepted.

"We have definitely seen a rush to submit petitions before the November 21st deadline. In our case, in the last 2 months, five times the regular amount of investors have closed in one of our deals," observes Alejandro Navia, Managing Director, Investment Sales, Driftwood Acquisitions & Development, LP. Navia is a Miami-based hotel developer who has completed five EB-5 hotel developments and who currently has two underway in Tempe, AZ, and in Melbourne, FL.