bengaluru the number of indians applying for the eb5 immigrant investor programme could see a sharp decline after november 21 when the higher investment requirements come into effectthe us citizenship immigration services uscis has just announced an increase in the standard minimum investment amount to 18 million from 1 million for high unemployment areas the amount has been increased to 900000 from 500000 this marks the first revision to the programme after 1993 and uscis said it was done to account for inflation under the programme designed to encourage job creation in the us those investing these amounts become eligible for green cardsthe new eb5 changes will affect investors from india in a variety of ways first i predict a surge of eb5 petition filings until november 21 after that i expect a sharp decline in eb5 petitions as fewer people will be able to satisfy the new minimum investment amount said stephen yaleloehr professor of immigration law practice at cornell law schoolyaleloehr said the new rule also makes it harder for projects to qualify as being in high unemployment areas that means that most new eb5 projects will be offered at 18 million not 900000 that will make it even harder for most indian investors india is already backlogged several years for eb5 that combined with the price increase will deter many indian investors from applying for eb5 visas after november he saidmark davies global chairman of immigration law firm davies associates said indians considering submitting an eb5 application ahead of the price increase need to be aware that proving the source of their funds takes an average of two months which effectively reduces the amount of time available for applicants wishing to lock in the current ratethe department of homeland security dhs had proposed that investment in high unemployment areas called targeted employment area tea be a minimum of 135 million for eb5 but the final decision kept it at 900000 in effect the rule retains the 50 minimum investment differential between a tea and a nontea the new rule however modifies the original proposal that any city or town with a population of 20000 or more may qualify as a tea to provide that only cities and towns with a population of 20000 or more outside of metropolitan statistical areas msas may qualify as a teaeb5 visas have an annual cap of 10000 with a per country annual cap of 700 india is already at those limits brennen mcconnell partner at paragon partners asia noted that the us house of representatives recently passed a bill that would increase the per country quota from 700 to 1500 this bill received strong bipartisan support and was passed by a wide margin the bill is now under review in the senate but the fact that it has received such strong bipartisan support bodes well for its potential to become law he saidcyrus mehta managing attorney and founder of new yorkbased law firm cyrus d