The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 created new subcategories and a new Form I-526E petition as well as for the treatment of those visa types after USCIS approval. Investors in a project located in a rural area, like the Apple Mountain EB-5 project, now hold several distinct advantages during the immigration process.

Priority Processing: USCIS has announced new case processing goals and will factor in the case type when deciding how to prioritize adjudications. Projects located in a Targeted Employment Area (or “TEA”) will be subject to priority processing. Rural projects are, by definition, located in TEA’s.  Your petition will receive expediated processing.

TEA Guaranteed: The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 removed the TEA pre-clearance procedure from the hands of the various states and gave that power only to USCIS, the designee of the DHS Secretary. Today, only USCIS can establish a TEA. Many TEA projects today will be marketed as being within TEA’s based on high unemployment, but will have no external confirmation of that fact. Conversely, the Apple Mountain EB-5 project is located primarily in Nicholas County, West Virginia, which fits the “rural” definition, meaning our project is indisputably within a TEA, adding certainty in this regard.

Lower Investment Amount: TEA-based projects require the lowest possible investment amount within EB-5, which is currently $800,000.

No Per-Country Waiting Queues: Because the rural/high unemployment/infrastructure visa allocation categories are new, they currently have no waiting queues. This provides a massive advantage for Chinese investors as the earlier regional center waiting queue for those investors is only now to 2015. 20% of EB-5 visas are allocated to rural projects, meanings there are just a few thousand EB-5 visas available before a cut-off date is established and a queue for China-born investors within the rural carve-out begins anew. Your Family can move to the US faster with a Rural EB5 project investment!