EB-5 Investors I-526 Filings

An analysis of 1-526 filings during Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 (10/01/2015 – 09/30/2016) shows that the sunset of the RC program statute is an impetus for EB-5 immigrants to invest and file 1-526 petitions.

In the 1^st quarter of FY 2016, over 6,000 petitions were filed. There were only about 850 filed in the 2nd quarter and 1,500 in the 3rd quarter, in contrast to the 5,500 petitions that were filed in the 4th· quarter just before the statute was to expire.

The RC program is now extended to April 28, 2017. It is probably very soon the USCIS will publish proposed regulations to increase the EB-5 investment amount from $900,000 to $800,000 for both RC and direct EB-5 investors. With both the statute deadline and possibly more restrictive EB-5 visa requirements, investors would be wise to decide to invest ASAP.

New EB-5 Investor I-526 Form

The USCIS, with no advance notice, issued many new forms two days before Christmas, including the 1-526 form used by EB-5 investors for both regional center and direct investors. For most, other than the new date on the form, they remain the same.

There is also a new I-924 form tor creating a new regional center and tor amendments to Regional Center charters and exemplars (for project approvals).

While the government notice says that the new forms are to be used effective immediately, USCIS later announced that it will accept prior versions of the form until February 21, 2017.

It’s very unusual for the government to issue new forms without any notice at all. I am just speculating, but it’s possible that the government is anticipating a freeze on all new regulations once the new administration takes over on January 20, and the immigration agencies want to have changes in place before then.

New Format For EB-5 Processing Times

USCIS will now post processing times using a new date format. It will no longer post the average weeks and months for processing applications.

USCIS posts case processing times on their website as a guide for when to inquire about a pending case. For the last several years, USCIS posted case processing times using two different formats:

• For cases that were within USCIS production goals, they listed processing times in weeks or months.
• For cases that were outside of USCIS production goals, they listed processing times with a specific date

But both systems are notoriously inaccurate. Cases beyond the posted processing time permits one to make an inquiry. The usefulness of such inquiries is questionable. Most often, they are ignored.

Here is how to determine if a case is beyond normal processing time. The I-797C Notice of Action has a “receipt date.” If the receipt date on the USCIS Processing Times web page is after the receipt date on the I-797C notice, USCIS says one should expect to hear a decision within 30 days. If one does not hear from USCIS after those 30 days, one make an inquiry on the case.