USCIS Releases Third-Quarter Statistics on July EB-5 Stakeholders Call

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) held an EB-5 stakeholders call on July 26, 2012. USCIS announced the new EB-5 program office at the meeting, and noted that the agency will release a new version of the draft EB-5 policy memo soon. USCIS also plans to release related FAQs, and will incorporate stakeholders’ comments into both documents.

USCIS addressed many issues on the call, including what constitutes a material change in an EB-5 project. Decisions on what constitutes a material change and other issues are often very case- and fact-specific, USCIS noted. That is why general guidance sometimes cannot be provided. USCIS did not discuss the tenant-occupancy methodology issue on the call, noting that the agency plans to release separate guidance on that issue. In a summary of the May 1 stakeholders meeting, USCIS said it will communicate individually with applicants with tenant occupancy requests for evidence via mail and e-mail, and “will look into the lack of response from the regional center direct mailbox.”

USCIS said it has approved over 3,000 I-526 (Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur) petitions so far this year, and that the number of I-829 (Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions) filings has decreased. USCIS expects to see more filed in the fourth quarter.

Regarding industry category requests on the I-924 (Application for Regional Center), USCIS said the I-924 must show how jobs will be created, and that a detailed business plan is needed for each industry category.

USCIS noted that a project may use both EB-5 and domestic capital. If so, evidence is necessary to show how domestic financing will be obtained. USCIS said it understands that domestic financing may depend on EB-5 money going into the project first. The regulations do not require any specific evidence, but USCIS looks for loan agreements, letters of commitment, and any other evidence that it is realistic given the business realities of early-stage financing.

USCIS also noted that investors can receive a return on their investment during the two-year conditional resident period as long as the returns are derived from net earnings and do not decrease their capital contribution.

According to the latest EB-5 program statistics based on preliminary data for the third quarter of fiscal year (FY) 2012, USCIS received 4,156 I-526 (Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur) petitions and had approved 3,002 and denied 775 so far. This was a 79 percent approval rating, compared to an 81 percent approval rating for all of FY 2011 and an 89 percent approval rating for all of FY 2010. As of the third quarter of FY 2012, USCIS had received 546 I-829 (Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions) petitions and had approved 639 and denied 42 so far. This was a 94 percent approval rating, nearly matching a 96 percent approval rating for all of FY 2011 and exceeding an 83 percent approval rating for FY 2010.

USCIS approved 209 regional centers as of the third quarter. The full list of RCs by state is available at http://www.uscis.gov/eb-5centers/.

The next USCIS stakeholder engagement meeting is scheduled for October 16, 2012, in Washington, DC.