EB-5 Program Extended

The 1992 EB-5 Immigrant Investment Pilot Program (the “Regional Center Program”), a subset of the original 1990 EB-5 regulations (the “EB-5 Program”), should be permitted to expire on September 30, 2015.  The original premise of the EB-5 Program in 1990 was that each immigrant investor must create at least 10 real, full-time jobs for U.S. citizens and/or permanent residents that were at least 35 hours a week at or above the minimum wage level.   However, in 1992, Congress enacted the Regional Center Program attempting to popularize it in the hopes of meeting the 10,000 immigrant investor visa limit allocated to the EB-5 immigration category.  Under the Regional Center approach, developers were afforded the right to count indirect and induced jobs towards the total 10 job requirement.  The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) defines indirect jobs as those held by persons who work outside the newly established commercial enterprise. However, in most cases, indirect jobs are not actual jobs but are subjectively derived from forecasted economic impact studies effectively reducing the 10 jobs requirement by 50 percent to 5 real jobs, or even less. 

Read more at: http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-budget/255316-short-term-eb-5-regional-center-program-extension-would

EB-5 and other USCIS Timelines for July 2015

The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Processing Times have had changed slightly for July 2015. The initial Immigrant Investor Form I-526 Petition and Package processing times was decreased by half a month, but the Form I-829 and Form I-924 processing times have increases.

For more information about the EB-5 program, please contact the JQK Law Firm at (310) 582-5904.

Form I-526 (Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur)

• 13.4 months (no change)

Form I-829 (Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions) 

• 13.6 months (Increase of .5 months)

Form I-924 (Application for Regional Center)

• 11.5 (Decrease of .7 month)

For more USCIS Processing times, please visit these links:

AAO Processing Time Reports

CSC Processing Time Reports

NBC Processing Time Reports

NSC Processing Time Reports

TSC Processing Time Reports

VSC Processing Time Reports

EB-5 Processing Time Reports

International Operations Offices Processing Time Reports

PERM Processing Time Reports

UPDATE* EB-5 Processing Times INCREASE! - April 2015

   by  Vincent_AF 

The processing times for EB-5 Investor Immigrant Applications have remained the same from last months estimates saw more increases, in particular the I-829 Removal of Conditions.The continuous increase in the amount of time it has been taken a toll on participants in this program.

Despite sensationalized stories on the news and some reports, the EB-5 Program is not a simple "Cash for Green Card" program. The delayed processing times alone illustrate this fact. Moreover, the investor must be their investment completely "at risk". Which means they can lost it all! Every penny of the investment amount must be traced to its original sources, sometimes decades in the past. Finally, USCIS is very strict on the job creation requirement.

The current processing times are as follows:

• Form I-526 (Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur)
• 14 months (No Change) - UPDATE: 14.2, Increase of .2 months.
• Form I-829 (Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions) 
• 11.4 months (No Change) - UPDATE: 12.3 months, Increase of 1.9 months!
• Form I-924 (Application for Regional Center)
• 11.1 months (No Change) - UPDATE: 11.7, Increase of .8 months.

Source: USCIS

EB-5 Processing Times Increase - March 2015

   by  Alan Cleaver 

Unfortunately the new EB-5 processing times released by USCIS show another increase. Average processing times for all types of EB-5 applications are:

• Form I-526 (Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur)
• 14 months (Increase of 0.2 months)
• Form I-829 (Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions)
• 11.4 months (Increase of .9 months)
• Form I-924 (Application for Regional Center)
• 11.1 months (Increase of .8 months)

In the last 6 months, the Form I-526 has taken around the same amount of time, however the Forms I-829 and I-924 have seen considerable delays: from around 7 months time to now 11 months processing times.

For best results for your EB-5 application, consult with an Immigration Attorney experienced in filing EB-5 applications.

EB-5 Update: Chinese EB-5 Applicants

The National Visa Center (NVC) has informed the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) that appointment interviews for Chinese EB-5 applicants may ask that the applicant bring original documents with them to the Consular interview, even if the NVC has the original documents. The NVC advices such applicants to attend the interview regardless of whether they have all of the original civil documents.

In December 2014, the NVC changed Chinese EB-5 applicants from a paper format to an electronic processing format. NVC may have changed the Consular Prefix from GUZ to GZO. The NVC estimates that this change will speed up processing time by several months for most cases, but has caused some confusion.

Also, a few NVC notices incorrectly stated that NVC had only received scanned copies of civil documents, even though original documents had been sent.

Source: AILA Doc. No. 15020241.

Interesting New EB-5 Facts From USCIS

On December 5th, 2014, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) held a Stakeholder Engagement Meeting discussing important and contemporary issues regarding the EB-5 Immigration Investor Program. The Meeting allowed individuals to attend in-person and by phone, and allowed individuals to ask questions, as well as receive answers to pre-selected questions. Approximately 50 people attended the meeting in-person and 500 individuals participated by phone.

In attendance from the government included the USCIS Director León Rodríguez, EB-5 Chief Nicholas Colucci and other top EB-5 officials, who spoke at the beginning of the conference and provided the following interesting facts:

• Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 represented approximately $5.5 billion in potential investment funds.

• There are approximately 600 approved Regional Centers, 230 of which were approved in FY 2014.

• 11,000 I-526 petitions were filed in FY 2014 (72% increase over FY 2013).

• Those 11,000 I-526 petitions represent over 25% of all petitions ever received by USCIS since the inception of the Program in 1990.

• As a result of these increases, the Program used up its allocation of approximately 10,000 visas, which became unavailable toward the end of FY 2013.

• The 11,000 I-526 petitions represent approximately $5.5 billion in potential investment.

• USCIS received 2,500 I-829s (106% growth).

• Compare these figures to those from 2007, at which time there were only 11 active regional centers. USCIS received less than 800 I-526 petitions, and less than 200 I-829 petitions.

• USCIS terminated seven regional centers for failure to file Form I-924A, and issued 28 Notices of Intent to Terminate (“NOIT”) to regional centers.  

Source: AILA InfoNet Doc. No. 14121200

Photo: Roger Sayles

EB-5 Processing Times Getting Longer

The New EB-5 Immigrant Investor Processing times were published by USCIS on December 5. As usual there was a steady increase in the processing of I-526 Applications (the initial Immigrant Investor Application for the conditional Green Card). However, the processing time for the application for removing the conditions on the Green Card (Form I-829) jumped 1.8 months. 

The processing time for companies to obtain a Regional Center designation also increased by half a month. Overall the EB-5 program is taking much longer than originally intended.

·      Form I-525 (Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur)

o   14.7 months (increase of 0.4 months)

·      Form I-829 (Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions)

o    6.8 months (decrease of 1.8 months)

·      Form I-924 (Application for Regional Center)

o   9.0 months (increase of 0.5 months)

For best results, consult with an Immigration Attorney experienced in filing EB-5 applications.

Picture: Moyan Brenn

EB-5 Regional Centers Must File Form I-924A by December 29, 2014 #EB5 #GreenCard

USCIS reminds all approved EB-5 regional centers with a designation letter dated on or before Sept. 30, 2014, that they must file Form I-924A, Supplement to Form I-924, for fiscal year 2014. Regional centers must submit Form I-924A no later than Dec. 29, 2014.

If a regional center fails to file Form I-924A, USCIS will issue a notice of intent to terminate participation in the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. If a regional center files an incomplete Form I-924A, USCIS may issue a notice of intent to terminate participation...(Link)

4th Quarter EB-5 Application Performance Released

The Immigrant Investor Program ("EB-5") allows foreign nationals to invest in job creating businesses in the U.S. with the goal of obtaining Lawful Permanent Residency (a "Green Card").

The process begins with the submission of the initial EB-5 package (Form I-526 and supporting documents). If approved, the foreign national will receive a Temporary/Conditional Green Card. Almost two years after the approval of the first EB-5 package, the immigrant must file the second EB-5 package (Form I-829 and supporting documents) to remove the conditions and receive a Permanent Green Card.

Because of the large dollar amount required for the investment, the process can have severe repercussions for participants whose applications are not approved. However, the success rate is still quite high, especially in relation to other U.S. Immigration programs.

For the most current statistics on the number of approvals, denials, and pending EB-5 applications, please visit the links below.


Click here for for I-526 Applications

Click her for I-829 Applications



Photo by: Dr. Wendy Longo

Small Changes in EB-5 Processing Times (November 2014)

According to the November 10, 2014 processing times published by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, there have been small changes in the processing times for EB-5 related applications:

·      Form I-525 (Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur)

o   14.3 months (increase of 0.5 months)

·      Form I-829 (Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions)

o    6.8 months (decrease of 0.4 months)

·      Form I-924 (Application for Regional Center)

o   8.5 months (increase of 0.4 months)

Unfortunately despite the average processing times listed above, the amount of time each EB-5 application may take to process will still vary greatly. For best results, contact an Immigration Attorney specializing in Business Immigration law.

 Photo by Hartwig HKD

August 2014 EB-5 Processing Times Released by USCIS

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) released the August 2014 average processing times for EB-5 Related Applications.

The processing time for I-526 EB-5 Petitions (the first step) has increased slightly, but the I-829 Petition to removed conditions (the second step) has increased by 2 months.

Form I-526 Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur: 13.4 Months (.2 month increase)

Form I-829 Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions 7.9 Months (2.2 month decrease!)

Form I-924 Application for Regional Center 5.4 Months (.7 month increase)

To avoid an even lengthier application process, be sure to hire an immigration attorney with experience in this area. Errors or omitted documents will cause months of additional delays and a Request for Evidence (RFE) by USCIS.

Source: USCIS

Picture by Moyan Brenn on Flickr