The U.S. Congress passed a $1.3 trillion spending bill early Friday morning that, among much else, will extend for another six months the controversial EB-5 immigration visa program that finances a number of high-end condo developments. President Donald Trump signed the bill in the afternoon after tweeting earlier that he might veto it.
U.S. lawmakers passed the omnibus bill in the nick of time, as federal funding was set to expire at midnight on Friday. Wrapped up in the 2,300-page bill is an extension for the EB-5 program, which gives wealthy foreigners a path to U.S. citizenship in exchange for a minimum investment of $500,000 in a job-creating project.
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Those investments have largely gone to construction projects in dense urban areas and have underpinned financing for many major luxury residential towers. Projects that have received financing through EB-5 include Hudson Yards on Manhattan’s West Side, Panorama City in Miami and Hollywood Park in Los Angeles.
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Meanwhile, the extension will do nothing to reform the embattled visa program, which has been the subject of negotiations among lawmakers and lobbyists for years. Potential reforms include increasing the minimum investment requirement, setting aside visa specifically for rural investment projects and increasing safeguards against fraudulent projects, Mansion Global has previous reported.
Major legislative snags, including a failed health care reform and the major tax overhaul passed in December, have held up negotiations on the EB-5 program.
Note: This article was updated on Friday, March 23rd at 2 p.m. to reflect PresidentDonald Trump's signing the bill into law.