Regional Center Program authorization: history, current status and open questions

The EB-5 immigrant investor category was created by the Immigration Act of 1990 and is a permanent part of U.S. immigration law. Investors can use it through a direct (standalone) investment, filing Form I-526.

The Regional Center Program is a separate program layered on top of that category. It allows investors to invest through projects associated with USCIS-designated regional centers, file Form I-526E, and count indirect and induced jobs as well as direct jobs. Because this program has always had an expiration date set by Congress, its status needs to be watched separately. See regional center vs. direct investment for how the paths compare.

1. 01

   Step 1: 1992: created as a pilot program

   Congress established the Regional Center Program in 1992 as a temporary pilot to encourage EB-5 investment through regional economic development entities.

2. 02

   Step 2: 1990s to 2021: repeated extensions

   Over the following decades, Congress extended the program many times, often through short-term extensions attached to broader legislation.

3. 03

   Step 3: 2021: lapse

   Authorization expired at the end of June 2021. During the lapse, the regional center path was unavailable for new filings, and regional center investors and projects faced significant uncertainty.

4. 04

   Step 4: March 15, 2022: reauthorization and reform

   The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 reauthorized the program and made substantial changes, including new minimum investment amounts, reserved visa categories, the project application (Form I-956F), integrity and reporting measures, and concurrent filing. Authorization was set to run through September 30, 2027.

The 2021 lapse is a reminder that program authorization is a real, external factor for regional center investors, separate from the merits of any project.

The 2022 Act includes a provision intended to protect regional center investors from the kind of disruption seen in 2021. In general terms, it provides that petitions filed on or before September 30, 2026 are protected from being affected by a future lapse of the program.

Some important questions cannot be answered today:

• Whether Congress will reauthorize the program before September 30, 2027, and for how long.
• Whether any reauthorization would change the program's rules, such as investment amounts, filing requirements or protections for pending petitions.
• How a lapse, if one occurred, would affect petitions filed after the protection date, which would depend on the law and agency guidance at the time.

Anyone who tells you with certainty what Congress will do is speculating. For updates, rely on official sources such as the USCIS EB-5 updates page (opens in a new tab) and Congress.gov (opens in a new tab).

• Ask a qualified U.S. immigration attorney how authorization risk applies to your expected filing date and to the time your petition may remain pending.
• Ask project sponsors how their offering documents address a program lapse, including what would happen to escrowed or deployed capital.
• Consider whether the standalone (direct) path is relevant to your circumstances, since it does not depend on Regional Center Program authorization.
• Avoid making rushed decisions on the basis of predictions about future legislation.

• Read the EB-5 program overview for context.
• Compare regional center and direct investment.
• Review the due diligence questions, including questions about lapse provisions in offering documents.
• To discuss timing and authorization risk for your situation, request a consultation to be connected with a qualified U.S. immigration attorney.