Visa Lawyer Blog
That was a close call for the EB5 program. The House passed legislation that would extend the regional center program. Included in the Fiscal 2009 Omnibus Appropriations bill (H.R. 1105), the law would extend the program only until September 30, 2009. This action means that Congress would need to address the issue all over again by September. The bill still must by passed by the Senate and then signed by the President.
If you check out the rules committee link and language below, you will see that the EB-5 extension language is included at the end of Division J (section 101). The language below doesn’t mention EB-5 explicitly, but it does say that section 144 of the prior continuing resolution is extended until Sept. 30, 2009. Section 144 is the provision that extended EB-5 until March 6, 2009.
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http://www.rules.house.gov/111/LegText/111_omni2009.htm
SEC. 101. Sections 143, 144, and 145 of division A of the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009 (Public Law 110-129; 122 Stat. 3580 et seq.) are each amended by striking “the date specified in section 106(3) of this joint resolution” and inserting “September 30, 2009”.
Congress will pass the provisions of law to extend the EB-5 regional center visa programs in early March. If these programs are only extended until September 30, 2009, I recommend that foreign nationals with a stake in these programs take immediate actions to file their applications quickly.