By Phoung Le.
As you may have heard, last week Donald Trump became a little bit more famous as the newest elected president of the United States. Understandably, there has been much noise and uncertainty about how a Trump presidency will affect the world (be it Great Walls or trade treaties), our focus today will be on the EB-5 industry.
Our firm is deeply involved with the EB-5 industry on all levels and our viewpoint on EB-5 is this: namely, if the question is “Will EB-5 disappear”, the answer remains the same “Unlikely.” Why? As usual, the easiest way to make sense of thing is “follow the money”. We offer the below perspective as industry insiders.
While the election may have been surprising, the forecast on EB-5 remains the same—we still expect the EB-5 program to be here. Our firm still has a full schedule to travel around the world to visit our investors and partners in the industry, including China, South Korea, and of course, Vietnam. Our Regional Center and project clients around the U.S. are still moving forward with their EB-5 plans. Many are already fundraising for projects currently underway or preparing new ones in the pipeline. And investors in China, Vietnam, Dubai, and around the world are still preparing to file their I-526 petitions (and hopefully avoiding the pesky filing fee increase on December 23, 2016).
Looking ahead, the focus is still on Congress to pass new legislation (with a short term extension passing this December and more robust legislation perhaps in February or March 2017). USCIS is still preparing new EB-5 regulations and policy memorandum.
Finally, regardless of how people feel about Trump, at core, he’s a businessman. It’s worth remembering that Trump’s family is already familiar with the EB-5 program because they themselves have used it to fund their own projects (including the Trump Tower in New Jersey and a golf course project in Florida).
Ultimately, the EB-5 program creates a robust capital market that’s too vital to the U.S economy to simply disappear. No country can turn away billions in capital investment—not even the U.S. In short, while there are never any guarantees in life, we and many of the stakeholders in the industry share the same expectations—that EB-5 will still be here in the future. Our firm will adapt and evolve with any changes and we’ll continue to serve our clients in the EB-5 industry and around the world.