The 75-Country Visa Freeze: EB-5, E-2, and Alternative Routes to U.S. Residency | Episode 235 with Jill Jones
EB-5 visa applicants from 75 countries woke up to their worst nightmare on January 14th, 2026. Trump announced an executive order indefinitely pausing immigrant visa processing for nationals of certain countries. Investors who have spent months, even years, on their applications and planning are suddenly in Limbo.
The reasoning behind the indefinite pause is questionable. The government wants to screen out potential public charges, people who might end up on welfare or food stamps. However, remember that we’re discussing investors who must invest between $800,000 and $1 million to obtain an EB-5 visa. How are these people a risk for public assistance?
Host Mona Shah sits down with Jill Jones, General Counsel of Institutional Client Services USA for JTC Group to explore what’s happening. They talk through the questions everyone in EB-5 is asking, such as whether the panic is justified. Should investors continue with their applications or explore alternative options, such as E-2 visas? Some lawyers are even suggesting clients enter on tourist visas and apply for adjustment of status once they’re in the country for ninety days, but that comes with real risks.
Amongst this chaos is the September 30th deadline. Regional Centre protections are expiring, which is creating urgency right when this pause is throwing everything into question.
If you’re an immigration attorney trying to advise worried clients, or an investor wondering what to do next, this conversation cuts through the confusion and gets to what actually matters.
“If I had one piece of … advice, I would say don’t panic. And I would say to investors on the list of 75 countries, don’t stop. Keep going. This will right itself, and it will work out.” — Jill Jones
Jill Jones
Jill joined JTC in 2020 following the acquisition of NES Financial and is the General Counsel of Institutional Client Services USA.
She is General Counsel of Institutional Client Services USA for JTC Group. Responsible for legal, governance, risk and compliance activities in the US, and Jill oversees the Specialty Financial Administration wing, which includes EB-5 Administration, 1031 Exchange, and Delaware Statutory Trust services.
With over 20 years of corporate and compliance experience and having been directly involved in over 600 EB-5 development projects, Jill is uniquely skilled at efficiently structuring subscription escrows and is highly regarded as a thought leader throughout the EB-5 market sector. Jill and her team are integral in negotiating contracts with new customers and designing, developing, and going to market with new product solutions.
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Transcript
This transcript was produced using AI and subsequently edited for style and clarity. The edits do not alter the substance of the speaker’s remarks
Mona Shah
(0:59) Hello, everyone. Imagine you’re an investor who spent months planning your American dream through the EB-5 programme. You’ve selected your project, you’ve marshalled your funds, you’ve prepared the mountains of documentation that’s required.
(1:14) And then suddenly, January 21st, 2026, the rules change overnight for nationals of 75 countries. Yeah, that’s exactly what happened. So, you know, on Global Investment Voice, we say it as it is.
(1:31) And if it’s not Rebecca with me, it’s another wonderful guest who also likes to say it as it is. I’m happy, delighted to welcome back Jill Jones. Hi, Jill.
Jill Jones
(1:43) Hello, Mona. Thank you for having me on. Thank you.
Mona Shah
(1:47) Well, Jill, you’re still general counsel of the what, Institutional Client Services USA for the JTC Group?
Jill Jones
(1:54) That’s right, I am. I’m focussing more and more of my time these days on EB-5 and speciality fund opportunities.
Mona Shah
(2:01) Wow. Well, that sounds very interesting and exciting. And knowing all that is going on with the world right now, you never have a dull moment.
(2:11) That’s putting it mildly. Yeah. So, my opening, that’s exactly what’s happening, right?
(2:19) We have clients who have been waiting for years, getting everything right. They’re almost there. And then suddenly, there is another executive order from the president now pausing immigrant visa processing, immigrant, not non-immigrant, for 75 countries.
(2:38) And this almost is effective immediately because it came in effect, I believe, I believe he signed it on the 14th and it came in effect like on the 21st. That’s right. No time to pivot at all.
(2:49) Right, right. And it includes many countries that would not normally be included, including countries like, which he has included before, like countries from the Middle East, Kazakhstan and the Caribbean, Pakistan and Bangladesh, Nigeria, Russia, Iran, we always expect it.
Jill Jones
(3:10) That’s right, Mona. So, when we look at the list of the 75 countries, at first glance, it is quite in-depth. As we break it down though, I think that the list itself causes more panic than possibly necessary.
(3:26) And as we’ve seen over the history of EB-5, this is the kind of thing that gets everyone stirred up and ultimately ends up encouraging more activity in EB-5. So, I’m glad that you and I are able to talk about it today and give some people some reassuring messages, if that’s at all possible anyway. We will, we’ll try.
Mona Shah
(3:46) But there is a critical distinction from another travel ban. Number one, it is not an absolute travel ban. It is a pause.
(3:56) And number two, the suspension only affects immigrant visas. So, obviously, working in EB-5, it totally affects our clients, but it doesn’t affect anybody who’s a tourist, a student, anybody coming in to see FIFA, see the football.
Jill Jones
(4:12) And what it also doesn’t affect, Mona, is people that are currently in the United States. This only affects people that are currently outside of the United States looking to come in. Right.
Mona Shah
(4:23) And here’s the other issue, which is totally mind-boggling. The whole point of this pause is so that the government, through the consulate, can really see what client coming into the United States might be a public charge in the future. First of all, I’ll ask you, Jill, what is a public charge?
Jill Jones
(4:44) Great question. So a public charge is a category of people that may come into the United States and be dependent upon our programmes for assistance, such as welfare, food stamps, things that might be viewed as a drain on the assistance that we have here for our citizens.
Mona Shah
(5:04) Right. So that’s why this is so mind-boggling that investors in EB-5 are being affected. And I was asked the other day in one of our IIUSA public policy meetings, I believe it was that or one of the meetings that we had, whether or not it is actually happening.
(5:22) And it actually is. We have a client, Jill, who’s more worried about coming into the U.S. and paying taxes because he’s pretty wealthy. And suddenly he gets a denial or on this whole issue that he might be a public charge in the U.S. It’s like it’s crazy. If this man is going to be a public charge, then we need to completely look at the definition of public charge.
Jill Jones
(5:46) Fascinating, Mona, because as we think about the demographic of people who are trying to utilise the EB-5 programme, first and foremost, they need to have some sort of wealth. They’ve got to have enough wealth that they could invest $800,000 or even $1,050,000 into these projects and still have money to live on. So how could this group of people be considered a public charge?
Mona Shah
(6:10) And in the whole list, they’ve also included all of the citizenship by investment countries, or not all, but a lot of them. And in order to be a citizenship by investment, you have to have money and extra money to go out and buy extra passports. So it really makes absolutely no sense to me.
(6:29) And I really don’t understand the rationale behind it. Do you?
Jill Jones
(6:33) I don’t. I don’t. As you said, we’re seeing this list of Caribbean countries, is the one that stood out to me, where there’s a long history of EB-5 potential investors not having the time to go through the programme and finding a faster route into the U.S. by using these citizenship by investment programmes and coming in on a different type of visa to allow their children to get an education or to begin a job that they were hoping to begin. It seems strange that that would now be on a list of countries that we want to prevent from entering the country.
Mona Shah
(7:07) Right. Right. And of course, you deal with a lot of high net worth individuals, same as us.
(7:11) And it is obviously something that is still causing a panic, even just because of the time and the effort when you plan that you’re going to move into another country. And it’s not easy, especially if you have a family. You know, you have to time everything with the children going to school and jobs and where you’re going to live.
And then suddenly you get thrown with this. It’s a total disruption.
Jill Jones
(7:34) It is. And if there’s anything you and I have learned in EB-5 is anytime there’s a disruption, there’s a panic.
(7:40) And what investors in EB-5 are looking for, they’re hungry for is certainty.
Mona Shah
(7:46) Right. Well, it is different. I’m going to ask you, you know, look, we compare it to the Trump 1.0 travel bans, which were immediately attacked by the courts, by the way. And they’ve been smart here because it’s not a travel ban that they can go and rush to court with. It’s a pause and it’s a temporary pause. But we have no idea what the word temporary means here.
(8:08) Does temporary mean three years, three months, three days?
Jill Jones
(8:12) Well, I think that’s a good point, because without knowing how long this pause would be, I would encourage people to still continue in the process. If it is ultimately a few months here or there, it would behove the potential investors to continue the process and be ready once that pause is lifted.
Mona Shah
(8:30) So for our client, we’re immediately attacking it. We’re filing a motion with the consulate and we’re just going head on and challenging this denial because it’s just nonsense as far as this candidate is concerned. And quite frankly, for most EB-5 projects, unless you do your own project, if you go into a regional centre, you need to be an accredited investor anyway.
(8:55) And that means you have a certain net worth, which would mean that you wouldn’t be anywhere near a candidacy for public charge.
Jill Jones
(9:01) That’s absolutely correct. So I’m curious, Mona, how did USCIS get to the point of denial when this is only supposed to be a pause, not a denial? (9:13) Were there other factors?
Mona Shah
(9:15) It wasn’t USCIS. It was the consulate.
(9:18) We feel that they haven’t looked at anything. This was one of the — at the moment, the consulate is so backlogged. There’s things pending forever.
(9:25) I feel that what the consulate just did was just see which countries are on the list and then issue a blanket denial, because the actual denial is very generic. It doesn’t have a date. It doesn’t have a real reason.
(9:37) It just quotes the executive order and that’s it. So that’s what it seems to me. And that’s why, as I said, our first issue is that if you’re facing this, we challenge it straight away.
(9:50) But alternatively, for people who are very nervous and there are other routes, I suppose, outside of the gold card, which we’re not discussing right now, but which is certainly picked up and we’ll discuss in the future. But what other routes could somebody take if they really didn’t want to go into being challenged or challenging, rather, the consulate?
Jill Jones
(10:11) Well, I think we start right where we were a moment ago with our citizenship by investment in other countries and using the E2 treaty to come into the country. That would not be an immigrant visa. That would be more of an employment or an opportunity visa.
Mona Shah
(10:30) Yeah. But the only problem with that is the fact that under Biden, that there wasn’t an immediate connection for people who have suddenly obtained citizenship by investment, say, for example, in the Caribbean, like, say, Grenada. They have to now show residency for three years.
(10:46) That really isn’t an immediate help, Jill.
Jill Jones
(10:49) Well, again, though, it is a certain path. And if someone does have that three years to go, then it would certainly be something they would look into. But if you do have a situation where an ambassador has made plans, they have housing lined up, they have employment lined up in schools, you’re right, that would not be the best choice.
(11:10) So I’m curious, are you advising your clients on any other routes?
Mona Shah
(11:15) Well, again, there are certain categories who are really seriously looking at the gold card. But alternatively, there’s always the non-immigrant processing that they could use if they are under a treaty country and they can do an E2. So the E2 is there.
(11:32) We look and see if any other business visas available for them, like an L1. But even if they come in on a B1, B2, that is a possibility. I’ve heard other lawyers discuss this, that they’ve asked their clients to come in on a B1, B2, stay in the country for a few months, and then file for an adjustment within the country.
(11:53) Do you think there is a risk to doing that in terms of changing your intended path? There’s always a risk under this administration. It’s more for those who really want to be in or have to desperately have to be into the country, and they’re ready to take that chance.
(12:10) But there are many people under the EB-5 who do take advantage of the concurrent filing, by the way, who do do this, who come in on a B1, B2, stay in the country for over 90 days, and then file for their adjustment.
Jill Jones
(12:25) You know, that’s a great point, Mona. One thing that I have noticed recently, and I would say in terms of timing since the Reform and Integrity Act was enacted, we’re seeing more and more groups that are marketing these EB-5 projects here in the United States. At the time, I think one of the pieces of certainty they were working around was H1B concerns.
(12:50) If someone were working for a company in the tech industry, and that company were to file for bankruptcy or have an employment reduction, and these people were left without a job, that’s a very uncertain situation to be in. So marketing to H1B holders has become very much more popular in EB-5 regional centres and issuers.
Mona Shah
(13:16) That’s true. The market within the U.S. is actually as much as the market outside of the U.S. And don’t forget, our colleagues in the global market are really jumping on all of this stuff saying, are you sure you really want to go into the U.S.? Sometimes I say to the clients, would you really want to come to the U.S.? But many people come for other reasons as well, Jill, like the company sponsors them or they really do see that there is work opportunities, business opportunities, but they don’t always need a green card. They don’t always need the EB-5.
(13:51) I mean, obviously there is a certainty because here’s the other thing. You know as well that if you come in on an E2 and if you’re here on an E2 for many years, you’re not really in a situation where you can go out and get loans, a lot of SBA loans and things like that. And now Donald Trump has changed that.
(14:10) You can’t get certain loans at all unless you are a permanent resident and a U.S. citizen. Yeah, it makes a difference if you want to do business in the U.S
Jill Jones
(14:20) It certainly does. I think the question from the very get-go is, do you have a long-term intention to be in the United States? Or more accurately, do you have a long-term need to be in the United States?
(14:32) Your intentions when you’re starting this process can really change the way that you plot your course.
Mona Shah
(14:39) Yeah, yeah. So you work mostly with the bigger regional centres, Jill, right? You don’t work with the smaller ones?
Jill Jones
(14:45) Well, actually, we work with all sizes. I would say it’s a very different experience when we’re working with a large established regional centre versus a first-timer. The main difference would be how much work on the front end goes into giving examples of what we’ve seen work in the past or encouraging people not to do certain things that we’ve seen be disallowed.
Mona Shah
(15:08) So you help a lot more with the flow of money?
Jill Jones
(15:11) Oh, absolutely. The way of JTC and previously as we were known as NES Financial, our very first foray into EB-5 was helping people bring the into the country, finding banks willing to accept it and hold it without having a relationship with the foreign nationals.
Mona Shah
(15:29) Yeah. Well, I know you deal with many, many different projects and regional centres. And let me ask you, even despite all of what’s going on, are you seeing a slowdown, even with the whole pause issue?
Jill Jones
(15:42) I’m not. And I think we have competing issues going on here. The one big elephant in the room is September 30th of 2026 is an end date to a grandfathering protection that was established in the Reform and Integrity Act.
(15:59) And because of that leaving an uncertainty after this coming September, there’s an absolute tailwind for investors to come in right now where they know that they will be adjudicated under the laws that are in place today.
Mona Shah
(16:14) Yes. But that’s for the regional centre programme, not necessarily for the EB-5 programme, because that’s already enshrined in law. That’s part of the fifth employment-based category.
Jill Jones
(16:25) You’re absolutely right, Mona. And I think a lot of people forget that point. I think the reason they forget it is because the vast majority of projects are put together under the regional centre programme.
(16:38) But we have seen in the past when the regional centre programme has sunset for a period of time, those direct EB-5 investment opportunities do come about. They just don’t have the glamour or the track record of success.
Mona Shah
(16:55) True. But here’s the other thing also, Jill. They are harder in some ways.
(17:00) Yes, you have control of your business. And we will talk about this, I know, in future podcasts. But 10 permanent actual physical jobs is not always as easy as you think.
(17:13) It’s not like a regional centre where the jobs are indirect and you build a building, your construction jobs are there. The actual non-regional centre projects, they really rely on physical W-2s and people. And how many times have we seen that a franchise doesn’t really need 10?
(17:32) It can work as efficiently with four people or five people.
Jill Jones
(17:36) Yeah, you’re absolutely right. When we look at the typical project size of a direct investment, we see things that are franchises, as you just mentioned, whether that be in the hospitality industry, maybe a restaurant franchise, even in medical, we’ve seen medical office buildings be franchised out. Dental is a big one.
(17:56) And when we look at the number of inside those businesses, it’s not as many. And so it is a bigger challenge to make sure that it fits with the job creation component of EB-5.
Mona Shah
(18:09) Right. And again, if something like this happens, and if it’s your own franchise, and you’re actually getting ready to come into the country, and suddenly there’s this big pause, that’s a problem. Who’s going to look after it?
(18:21) So yeah, there’s so many issues. There’s so many points that we can discuss, and we can keep on discussing. Jill, I’m sure you’ll be back.
(18:29) Let’s see how this pause goes. Let’s get some feedback and see what people are actually doing. And, you know, relay it to our listeners.
Jill Jones
(18:38) I think that’s a great idea. And if I had one piece of parting advice, I would say don’t panic. And I would say to investors on the list of 75 countries, don’t stop.
(18:49) Keep going. This will right itself, and it will work out. (18:53)
Mona Shah
What great advice, Jill. Thank you.
Jill Jones
(18:56) Thank you, Mona. It’s always a pleasure.