U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California orders immediate re-start of EB-5 regional center program; enjoins USCIS from deauthorization of EB-5 regional centers, enabling Behring to accept new EB-5 investors
BLACKHAWK, Calif., June 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Behring Co., a vertically integrated real estate developer and the operator of Behring Regional Center (“BRC”), praised the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California’s decision to issue a preliminary injunction, setting aside the deauthorization of EB-5 regional centers by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”). Today’s decision by U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria held that USCIS almost certainly committed legal error when it unilaterally deauthorized designated EB-5 regional centers existing at the time that the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (“RIA”) was enacted into law and required regional centers to apply and receive approval for new designation before allowing them to operate and accept new EB-5 investors. Read the decision here.
The court’s decision means that EB-5 investors can file new I-526 petitions now. The court’s order enables Behring Regional Center, and all pre-authorized Regional Centers, to sponsor EB-5 projects. USCIS is required to accept I-526 petitions filed by new EB-5 investors that make qualified EB-5 investments through BRC. BRC attorneys at Greenberg Traurig welcomed the decision: “We are so pleased that the court recognized the true congressional intent,” said Laura Reiff, shareholder at GT. “Existing regional centers can now operate and accept new investors. This is a program that should be embraced by the agency and the country as it brings much-needed revenue into the US and helps with job creation.”