EB-5 Rural Development Has Become a Lifeline. Why Hasn’t Congress Made It Permanent?

An op-ed in Site Selection co-written by JTC’s Jill Jones examines unemployment in rural parts of the country and why EB-5 rural development is part of the solution, if lawmakers will allow it to be.

“An estimated 46 million people, or roughly 16%, of the U.S. population currently live in rural areas,” according to the USDA Economic Research Service. For the people living in those areas, finding steady work can be a challenge, as employment rates are consistently lower than those in urban areas. Despite the shift to remote work allowing many professionals to work from anywhere, “between 2020 and 2022, employment grew nearly twice as fast in metro areas as non-metro areas.”

As the Federal Reserve Board of Governors explains, “long-term changes in the nature of the economy – including advances in technological innovation and automation, declines in the extraction of certain energy resources, increases in globalization, and a shift to the ‘knowledge-based’ economy – have coincided with disproportionately negative employment outcomes in many rural, or ‘nonmetro,’ communities.”

Lawmakers have long looked for solutions to help rural areas deal with these economic realities, with mixed success. But one program has been helping to bring investment, jobs, and economic activity to previously neglected areas: the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, which has become an important source of EB-5 economic development for rural communities.

How EB-5 Rural Development Helps Rural Areas Recover from Economic Stagnation

Despite being part of U.S. law for more than 35 years, EB-5 has largely flown under the radar for most Americans. If they’ve heard of it at all, it’s thought of as an immigration program. But as JTC Head of Specialty Administration/ General Counsel – USA Jill Jones and CanAm Enterprises COO Christine Chen explain in a new piece for Site Selection, immigration is only part of the story.

“While often framed as an immigration pathway, EB-5 is fundamentally an economic development tool,” explain Chen and Jones. “Across the country, EB-5 is serving as the critical bridge financing that allows projects to move forward when traditional capital falls short.”

EB-5 offers incentives for investment that goes to areas with high unemployment, but rural areas have long been a challenge for developers. That changed with the passage of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA), which created additional incentives for investments in rural areas. Foreign investors seeking permanent residency now have more reason to invest in EB-5 rural projects, and the results have been nothing short of extraordinary.

“For decades, rural communities have struggled with population loss, shrinking tax bases and limited access to investment. Infrastructure projects stall. Employers cannot expand. Financing flows overwhelmingly to major metropolitan areas, leaving smaller regions behind,” say Jones and Chen. But since the RIA, “Billions of dollars in capital have been raised and deployed across infrastructure, healthcare, manufacturing, housing and energy projects.”

These projects bring with them not just the jobs EB-5 projects are required to create, but increased spending at local businesses. The ripple effect across housing and service-related industries creates even more economic benefit. But while the RIA was successful in driving EB-5 job creation and investment to rural communities, without Congressional action, the benefit may not last.

Why EB-5 reauthorization matters for rural communities

While the RIA has undoubtedly improved EB-5 and allowed it to do more for American communities, its provisions are only temporary. The EB-5 Regional Center Program, which accounts for 95% of all EB-5 investment, is set to expire on September 30th, 2027. For EB-5 rural development to continue at scale, Congress must reauthorize the program.

But as Chen and Jones argue, EB-5 reauthorization alone may not be enough. Another short-term authorization would allow rural projects to accept EB-5 investment but won’t create the confidence necessary for large-scale development to proceed. That’s why many in the industry are advocating for a permanent version of the Regional Center Program that would put an end to the uncertainty.

“Capital markets depend on predictability, and when that predictability disappears, so does investment,” say Jones and Chen. “If lawmakers are serious about revitalizing rural America, the path forward is clear: Move beyond short-term extensions and provide durable, long-term authorization for the EB-5 program.”

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