Headlines are supposed to grab readers’ attention. Now that we have yours, allow us to explain (as if you have never heard this in previous years).

The U.S. government’s fiscal year ended, as it always does, on September 30th. Also, as usual, Congress failed to renew numerous spending programs, one of which was the USCIS EB-5 Investment Visa Regional Center program.

In order to keep the government operational, current programs were extended by a continuing resolution that keeps them funded until December 9th. That continuing resolution does nothing but kick the proverbial can down the road. Sometime between now and December 9th, Congress must once again decide whether to fund or not to fund the Regional Center program and all other programs covered by the resolution.

It is highly unlikely that Congress will handled any of these continuing programs individually – from the perspective of either past years or the current Senators and Representatives focusing on being reelected on November 8th.

Here’s the bottom line: We don’t know what is going to happen on December 9th. We don’t even know yet (as of this writing) what is going to happen on November 8th. In those situations, the best advice is always the same: Hope for the best, but expect the worst.

As that advice relates to EB-5, preparing for the worst means getting petitions submitted before the impending dates. Do not delay.

Regardless of what happens to the Regional Center program, the EB-5 Direct Investment program will continue.