The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has ruled that family members count toward a cap on visas. The ruling found that spouses and children of EB-5 investors must be included in the tally with the annua; 10,000 visas in the EB-5 program.
A panel of three judges dismissed the case of Chinese investors and their family members who claimed Congress intended family-member visas to be excluded in the 10,000 visas in the EB-5 program.
The D.C. Circuit affirmed that the Immigration and Nationality Act has required the State Department, since 1965, grant visa applicant spouses and children the “same status” and “same order of consideration” for those visas as investors. They also noted that Congress did not in 1990 change the text’s meaning. “Congress did nothing in 1990 to change the text’s meaning. We therefore affirm the district court’s dismissal of the Plaintiffs’ lawsuit,” Circuit Judge Justin Walker wrote.
The attorneys arguing the case stated that the EB-5 program is a job-creation mechanism, therefore, He says since Congress never contemplated that capital investment and job creation is lowered by the number of derivative family members of each EB-5 investor.”