Is 2025 Still a Good Time to Pursue EB-5?

With tariffs creating economic uncertainty, foreign nationals may wonder if EB-5 is too risky, while those who’ve gotten their capital back want to know where to safely invest in America. Here’s what the experts had to say.

As we entered 2025, EB-5 momentum remained strong, and even in the face of news like the proposed “Gold Card Visa” that some believe could be a threat to EB-5, the program has continued to see high numbers of petitions that signal a robust and thriving industry.

But EB-5 isn’t just an immigration program; petitioners make significant investments, and want to limit their risk as much as possible. As we have yet to see the full effect of recent changes to U.S. tariffs, there is a state of uncertainty that can give investors pause. Are EB-5 projects less likely to meet their raises, create jobs, and return invested capital in this new climate? And what about when investor capital is returned? Is the U.S. a good place to invest right now?

To address these questions, JTC gathered a panel of experts for Beyond EB-5: What Does the Current U.S. Economy Mean for Immigrant Investors? At the webinar, the panelists discussed the state of the U.S. economy and what it means for EB-5 investors.

Opportunities in the current U.S. economic climate

In order to figure out whether EB-5 investing (and investing in the U.S. in general) is a smart move in 2025, we first need to move past the headlines and understand the actual state of the American economy. Brian Rose, Senior Economist at UBS Global Wealth Management, provided some insights based on recent data.

“The most encouraging thing we see in the data is the labor market,” said Rose. “The linchpin of the economy is the labor market. It still looks good. So you still see very low unemployment, very low layoffs, good growth in payrolls, and also wage growth is quite good.”

As wages are still growing faster than inflation, Rose said, it’s reasonable to expect that “the U.S. economy, at least for now, should continue to grow at a pretty decent rate.”

But as Rose pointed out, that isn’t guaranteed, given a lot of things could happen to affect the economy in the coming months, including negotiations over the budget and debt ceiling, the end of the fiscal year, and the looming midterm elections in 2026.

“You just have to keep in mind that we’re in an unusually volatile period for the U.S., a lot of uncertainty driven by policy changes which are difficult to predict.”

When asked which sectors present the greatest opportunities for investors who’ve had their EB-5 capital returned and are looking for growth, Rose said “by far the one that stands out the most is artificial intelligence,” explaining that this extends beyond the technologies themselves.

“Just building out the infrastructure, the electricity demand driven by new data centers and all these things, it’s all very exciting and is going to continue to be a bigger and bigger part of the economy.”

 

How tariffs and the Gold Card are affecting the EB-5 investment environment

Aside from tariffs, the biggest news out of Washington for EB-5 stakeholders has been the Gold Card and its potential threat to EB-5. As JTC Head of Specialty Administration and General Counsel USA Jill Jones explained, regardless of what the Gold Card eventually entails, current investors are safe. But with the Regional Center Program’s renewal still in limbo, many aren’t waiting to take action.

“Any petition that a foreign investor puts into the EB-5 program by the date of September 30th, 2026, will be honored under the current rules that we have today,” said Jones. “There is a real sense of urgency here to get the projects to market and have investors come in before that 2026 date.”

Jones also outlined why it’s believed that tariffs won’t halt EB-5 investment. Because of the wide variety of projects that can qualify for EB-5, industries resistant to current market fluctuations could see an increase in EB-5 investment, and investors should still have plenty of projects to choose from.

“There’s a push to develop new industries, new businesses in the United States, and EB-5 is a program that is able to bring in money to make those kinds of things happen,” she said. “A lot of construction is done with materials and supplies that have historically been obtained overseas because of pricing competition,” but if tariffs lead to greater production in the United States, “the manufacturing facilities and the types of real estate that would be needed to create these materials is a perfect way to be spending EB-5 money on projects here in the United States. Not only is it saving money, it’s creating jobs for the people that live in these underserved areas.”

 

Why Latin America continues to be a reliable source of EB-5 investment

One region that has continued to grow as a source of EB-5 capital is Latin America. According to Ignacio Terrera, Director – Business Development at JTC, the appeal of America isn’t likely to be diminished by economic or political uncertainty.

“There’s an aspirational component there that is very important, not only to invest and have your investments in a safe country, but also have the possibility of setting roots here, bringing your family to the United States,” he said.

Terrera walked through some of the reasons LATAM investors are looking to EB-5 and to the United States as an investment destination, including asset protection, diversification, and cultural aspirations for those who want to pursue the American Dream.

Using the example of Brazil, Terrera explained that while the country is home to a large population of high net worth individuals (HNWI) and ultra high net worth individuals (UHNWI), it also has a new government, and concerns about currency devaluation are making the U.S. an appealing destination.

“I won’t be surprised if there’s a lot of Brazilians investing – more than they already are investing – in the years to come in the United States,” he said.

Jones spoke about ways the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA) made this an ideal time for LATAM investors to pursue EB-5.

“One of the things that the RIA put into place that we haven’t had before are set-aside categories,” she said, referring to the reserved visa categories of rural (20%), urban high-unemployment (10%), and infrastructure (2%). “Not only are we encouraging these developers and people that are raising money for EB-5 to go into underserved areas, they’ve actually set aside a number of visas for three particular categories.”

In addition to a certain allocation of annual visas going toward reserved categories, investors in those projects also enjoy priority processing from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for their EB-5 petitions.

“When a project is developed that meets one of the three definitions of these set-aside categories, an investor is likely to have their petition processed faster and with better results,” said Jones. “You’re not having to wait in line behind the countries that have oversubscribed in the past, like China or India or Vietnam. So, a Latin American investor can now come into one of these set-aside categories and look forward to a speedy processing period.”

 

What can EB-5 investors do to make sure their immigration and investment decisions are sound in an uncertain climate?

Regardless of how the U.S. economic and political environment changes, it remains a fact that some EB-5 projects will be successful while others will not. What can investors do to increase the likelihood that their capital will be returned and their petitions successful?

“Since I am someone that came from another country,” said Terrera, who comes from Argentina. “Get advice way in advance, before the decision. You have to consider a lot of things, a lot of factors that will impact the decision.”

“We know there are lots of ways an immigrant may come to the United States, and ultimately, the first question is whether this is to be a temporary stay or permanent,” said Jones

“When we think about the more permanent side, H-1B has been a very popular way for foreign nationals to come to the United States. And when we think about an economy that is less than stable, we think about unemployment. And for those who may have taken the H-1B route to the United States, the fear of losing one’s job really expands to the fear of being deported. When you’re considering which path you will take to come to the United States, EB-5 steps ahead a little bit, because it is not tied to a particular job or a particular employer.”

“It really isn’t just about the type of project,” said moderator Joan Hull, Director, Relationship Management for CanAm Enterprises. “You need to look at the sponsor of the project. You need to look at the capital stack of the project. You need to look at the leverage of the project. You need to be asking all of these types of questions.”

“You want to consider if the developer has done this type of project before, and what is the likelihood of the success of the project being completed on time and on budget,” said Jones, discussing some of the questions investors should ask as part of the due diligence process. “The last thing we want to do is invest in something that doesn’t get finished.”

“Do all your homework on making sure it is a quality project, that it’s meeting all of the USCIS requirements for job creation, for spending, and for sustainment,” said Hull. “Do your homework on the Regional Center, and really, always work with the very best third-party providers: the immigration attorneys, the administrators, etc.”

Past, current, and future EB-5 investors are likely all considering whether to invest in the United States in the near future. That raises the big question: is the U.S. a good place to invest right now?

“I think it’s really critical to understand that the situation is not normal in the U.S. right now, that there is a lot of uncertainty,” said Rose. “But also, I’d say there’s no reason to be overly pessimistic.”

“This is a great time for EB-5,” said Jones. “It’s a great time to be developing in the United States, creating jobs in the United States, and the more interest we can bring in from high net-worth individuals, that really just does have a snowball effect in creating the best United States we can have.”

“It’s still a wonderful place to build a life, to build roots, to build investments in,” said Hull.