CIVITAS CAPITAL PRAISES U.S. SENATE BILL SEEKING TO ENSURE EMPLOYMENT-BASED VISA FILING FEES "REMAIN AFFORDABLE"

DALLAS, Nov. 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Civitas Capital Group, a leading regional center operator and investment manager offering niche U.S. real estate opportunities to EB-5 investors around the world, today thanked the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee for its FY25 Homeland Security appropriations bill and bill report, specifically the report's section related to employment-based visa fees.

Civitas praised the language of the bill's accompanying report that states, "the Committee is concerned that at some point, costs to seek a lawful immigration benefit, irrespective of whether such benefit is in the family or employment-based system, may become too cost prohibitive."

From Civitas' perspective, as it pertains to the EB-5 Immigrant Investment Program, that point is long past. The worry expressed within the bill's report aligns with the language from a lawsuit the firm filed in April against U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services ("USCIS"). In the lawsuit, Civitas and 11 other plaintiffs are seeking to invalidate a January 2024 USCIS "final rule" that would, quoting from the lawsuit, increase filing fees for EB-5 related petitions "by astounding amounts (in excess of 200%) in clear violation of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act ("RIA"), the Regulatory Flexibility Act ("RFA"), the Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA"), the Administrative Procedure Act ("APA") and internal guidelines established by the Office of Management and Budget ("OMB")."

Daniel J. Healy, CEO of Civitas and a chief architect of the EB-5 industry effort to set aside the increase, says the fees, if left standing, would be an enormous, unfair increase in cost to both individual EB-5 investors and regional centers.

"That's why we're so excited to see this commonsense language in the bill's report," Healy says. A bill's report is issued with the bill itself to explain the committee's reasoning behind recommending the bill. "We're thrilled that the bill report suggests Congress would move quickly to seek clarification from USCIS as to what these fees should be, as well as how best to reduce what we feel is a current unfair burden of payment to EB-5 investors."

Then bill report explicitly states: "Within 90 days of the date of enactment of this act, USCIS shall brief the Committee on a comprehensive plan to request Congressional appropriations for certain applications and petitions, so that the costs to American businesses and families using USCIS services, remain affordable."

Healy notes this concern is what prompted the lawsuit from Civitas. "USCIS has a job to do and needs funding from fees to do it. No problem, that's the law," Healy says. "But Congress was quite clear about how these fees should be calculated. It's obvious that if and when USCIS conducts the required fee study using accurate data in place of their wildly erroneous assumptions, the resulting fees will be far, far lower. This is the first step toward the bill's stated goal of making sure these costs remain affordable to all involved."

Dallas-based Civitas filed the suit in April 2024 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas – the firm's backyard – alongside EB-5 trade association Invest in the USA ("IIUSA") and 10 other regional center plaintiffs. The lawsuit asks the court to set aside the EB-5 fee increases until USCIS has completed a required fee study and otherwise complied with applicable law.

The lawsuit further states: "USCIS' EB-5 fees are arbitrary and capricious and in violation of law in that USCIS did not accurately determine the cost of [adjudicating EB-5 petitions], did not base the fees on actual time spent adjudicating cases and did not credibly estimate the amount of time required to process EB-5-related petitions."

According to IIUSA, the EB-5 program has generated $54 billion in foreign direct investment since its inception – at no cost to U.S. taxpayers.

Healy, a member of the IIUSA Board of Directors, says this unheard-of USCIS fee increase is unfair to investors, the backbone of the job-creating machine that is the EB-5 program. Civitas' EB-5 projects have created more than 20,000 jobs since 2009.

ABOUT CIVITAS CAPITAL GROUP

Civitas Capital Group is a private investment manager offering EB-5 investors compelling, niche opportunities in U.S. real estate. We have worked with more than 1,500 investors across 40 countries over the past 15 years, helping them make the American Dream come true for themselves and their families. Our firm is grounded in its core values and purpose to create opportunities that enrich our investors, our employees, and our communities. Follow Civitas Capital Group on LinkedIn. Learn more at civitascapital.com.

SOURCE CIVITAS CAPITAL GROUP