• Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
ABIL
  • Home
  • About
  • ABIL Lawyers
    • North America
      • Canada
      • Costa Rica
      • Mexico
      • United States
    • South America
      • Colombia
    • Europe
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • France
      • Germany
      • Italy
      • Netherlands
      • Poland
      • Spain
      • Switzerland
      • Turkey
      • United Kingdom
    • Asia Pacific & Africa
      • Australia
      • Hong Kong
  • Global Immigration
    • North America
      • Canada
      • Costa Rica
      • Mexico
      • United States
    • South America
      • Colombia
    • Europe
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • France
      • Germany
      • Italy
      • Netherlands
      • Poland
      • Spain
      • Switzerland
      • Turkey
      • United Kingdom
    • Asia Pacific & Africa
      • Australia
      • China
      • India
      • Japan
  • Services
    • Complex Cases
    • Compliance
    • Corporate Immigration
    • Foreign Investment
    • Global Immigration
    • Government Policy
    • Litigation
    • Pro Bono
  • Industries
  • Resources
    • Blogs
    • News
    • Newsletters
    • Videos & Recordings
    • Articles
  • Contact
  • Search
  • Menu Menu

EB-5 & Other Investor News from the Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers Vol. 1, No. 1 • January 01, 2011

January 01, 2011/in EB-5 Investor News /by ABIL

Headlines:

1. USCIS Holds Quarterly Stakeholders Meeting – As part of a quarterly EB-5 stakeholders call, USCIS released statistics on usage of the EB-5 program for FY 2010 and other information.

2. USCIS Confirms Indirect Job Creation Can Occur Outside Regional Center Boundaries – USCIS recently agreed to count jobs indirectly created outside the geographical boundaries of an EB-5 Regional Center (RC) in determining whether the RC’s business plan complies with EB-5 regulations.3. USCIS Seeks Comment on EB-5 Policy Memo – Even though the USCIS issued an EB-5 memo over a year ago, USCIS is seeking comments now.4. USCIS Acknowledges Problems with Online Case Tracking – USCIS’s Customer Service Directorate acknowledged the problems and promised to update CRIS to correct them.5. AILA EB-5 Conference – An EB-5 conference sponsored by the American Immigration Lawyers Association is scheduled for March 14, 2011, at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.6. New Publications and Items of Interest – New Publications and Items of Interest7. Member News – Member News8. EB-5 Government Agency Links – EB-5 Government Agency Links


Details:

1. USCIS Holds Quarterly Stakeholders Meeting

On December 16, 2010, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Service Center Operations (SCOPS) Directorate and the Office of Public Engagement (OPE) hosted the EB-5 Investor Quarterly Engagement. The agenda and relevant information are available at http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=858206489ec6a210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=e0b081c52aa38210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD.

EB-5 statistics for FY 2010. As part of the Quarterly Engagement, USCIS released statistics on usage of the EB-5 program for fiscal year (FY) 2010. Among the highlights:

  • The number of approved Regional Centers has reached 120 spread across 35 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam. A complete list is posted at http://www.uscis.gov/eb-5centers.
  • Approximately 90 percent of all EB-5 investors have invested in a Regional Center (RC).
  • USCIS received 110 initial RC proposal filings in FY 2010. Of that total, 36 were approved and 30 were denied. USCIS also received 42 amended RC proposal filings, of which 27 were approved and 11 were denied.
  • The number of Form I-526s (Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur) and Form I-829s (Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions) filed with USCIS increased significantly from the previous fiscal year. The number of I-526 petitions increased roughly 90 percent to 1,955 in the 2010 fiscal year, compared to 1,028 in FY 2009. Likewise, the number of I-829 petitions was up roughly 75 percent, from 437 in FY 2009 to 768 in FY 2010.
  • The approval rate for initial I-526 petitions continued to increase. Of the I-526 petitions that received final action in FY 2010, USCIS approved 1,369 (89 percent) and denied 165. By contrast, in FY 2009 USCIS approved 86 percent of the I-526 petitions that received final action (1,262) and denied 207. In the prior four fiscal years, both the total rate and number of approvals gradually increased from 53 percent in FY 2005 (179 approvals and 156 denials), to 73 percent in FY 2006 (336 approvals and 124 denials), to 76 percent in FY 2007 (473 approvals and 148 denials), to 84 percent in FY 2008 (640 approvals and 120 denials).
  • The approval rate for I-829s, however, declined to 83 percent of petitions that received final action in FY 2010, with 274 approved and 56 denied. By comparison, 86 percent of I-829 petitions were approved in FY 2009 (347 approvals and 56 denials). Until FY 2010 the approval rate for I-829s had steadily risen from 62 percent in FY 2005 (184 approvals and 112 denials) to 64 percent in FY 2006 (106 approvals and 59 denials) to 69 percent in FY 2007 (111 approvals and 49 denials) to 70 percent in FY 2008 (159 approvals and 68 denials).
  • The number of EB-5 visas issued in FY 2010 declined roughly 55 percent from the previous fiscal year, going from 4,218 visas issued in FY 2009 to 1,885 visas issued in FY 2010. Of those EB-5 visas issued in FY 2010, a total of 772 (41 percent) were issued to nationals from the People’s Republic of China. Other countries accounting for the most EB-5 visas issued in FY 2010 were South Korea with 16 percent (295), the U.K. with 7 percent (135), Taiwan with 5 percent (94), and India with 3 percent (62). The remaining 527 EB-5 visas (a total of 527) were issued to nationals of all other countries.

Processing times. USCIS also released its current EB-5 processing times. Currently, the processing time for a typical I-526 petition is five months, matching USCIS’s target. Form I-829 processing time is currently six months, compared to the target of five months. The processing time for an RC initial designation proposal also exceeds the target, with a current processing time of five months, compared to the target of four months. On the other hand, RC amended designation proposals are currently being processed in one month, while the target processing time is four months. For EB-5 cases in which USCIS issued a request for evidence (RFE), the agency said its goal is to decide the case within 30 days of receipt of a response to the RFE.

Statistics for individual RCs. In response to inquiries from members of Congress, investors, and the press, in FY 2011 USCIS plans to begin publishing quarterly and annual reports on filing volumes and final case actions on I-526 and I-829 petitions affiliated with specific RCs. However, USCIS does not have a system in place to quickly and accurately gather that information. Currently, RC affiliations are not noted until the petitions are assigned to an Immigration Service Officer (ISO) and some time passes before cases are assigned, so there is a lag of several months before that information is compiled. USCIS plans to start gathering RC affiliations shortly after petitions are filed and expects to publish its first quarterly report by June 2011.

I-526 and I-829 revisions. USCIS plans to revise forms I-526 and I-829 in 2011. Revisions will include information collection on RC affiliations. Drafts of the revised forms will be posted at http://www.regulations.gov for review and comment.

Additional EB-5 staff at California Service Center. USCIS has added staff to process EB-5 cases at the California Service Center (CSC). The CSC is training additional ISOs in processing forms I-526, I-829, I-924 and I-924A, and has also added another EB-5 supervisor. The new EB-5 Immigration Service Officers (ISOs) are being trained by current EB-5 ISOs, which USCIS said has temporarily slowed adjudication of EB-5 cases. Once the new ISOs are trained, USCIS expects to adjudicate EB-5 cases faster. USCIS plans to post its EB-5 training materials on the USCIS website by the end of February 2011.

Form I-924 (Application to Establish Regional Center) and I-924A (Supplemental Form). As of November 23, 2010, applications for RC designation must use Forms I-924 and the I-924A Supplement. In the week before these forms became mandatory, USCIS received approximately 100 initial and amended RC proposals, roughly 65 percent of all RC proposals filed during FY 2010. USCIS expects the surge in filings to delay processing of RC applications. Form I-924A must be filed by all approved RCs for the first time no later than December 29, 2011.

EB-5 FAQs. USCIS is preparing EB-5 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), which it plans to post on its website shortly. USCIS plans to update the FAQs regularly.

Information on the latest stakeholder meeting, and a summary of the most recent previous meeting, are available at http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=858206489ec6a210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=e0b081c52aa38210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD.

Back to Top


2. USCIS Confirms Indirect Job Creation Can Occur Outside Regional Center Boundaries

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently agreed to count jobs indirectly created outside the geographical boundaries of an EB-5 Regional Center (RC) in determining whether the RC’s business plan complies with EB-5 regulations. The policy change was expressed in a December 3, 2010, letter from USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas in response to a letter from Senator Patrick Leahy, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Mayorkas wrote: “USCIS interprets the law to require that a regional center focus its EB-5 capital investment activities on a single, contiguous area within the defined geographic jurisdiction requested by the regional center. Nevertheless, we agree that the law does not further mandate that all indirect job creation attributable to a regional center take place within that jurisdiction. I will, therefore, ensure that USCIS policy reflects this understanding of the law.”

The USCIS letter is at http://www.ilw.com/immigrationdaily/news/2010,1222-eb5.pdf.

Back to Top


3. USCIS Seeks Comment on EB-5 Policy Memo

USCIS is accepting comments until January 21, 2011, on a December 2009 EB-5 policy memorandum. The memo, dated December 11, 2009, from Donald Neufeld, Acting Associate Director, Domestic Operations, is posted on the USCIS website at http://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/Outreach/Adjudicatingof0EB-5_121109_commentdates.pdf. Even though the USCIS issued the Neufeld EB-5 memo over a year ago, USCIS is seeking comments now.

Key aspects of the Neufeld memo include:

  • Material Changes: The memo states that USCIS plans to require a new I-526 petition to be filed when there is a material change to the business plan after the initial approval. This can have significant consequences for an EB-5 investor, including the need to begin a new two-year conditional residence period and the possibility that a child who has turned 21 since the original I-526 filing would be excluded from the new filing. The memo would also allow the agency to deny an I-829 petition if there are material changes in the business plan.
  • Streamlining Case Processing: The memo revised the Adjudicator’s Field Manual (AFM) by including guidance on adjudicating “exemplar” filings. The AFM would require ISOs to give deference to prior exemplar approvals during the processing of individual EB-5 petitions as long as the underlying facts remain unchanged. ISOs are instructed to revisit the RC approval if there is a material change, if there is fraud or misrepresentation, or if the RC approval was legally deficient.
  • Meaning of Full-Time Position: The revised AFM will include guidelines on determining whether the job creation requirement has been met. Intermittent, temporary, seasonal and transient jobs will not be counted toward job creation goals. However, USCIS will allow construction and tourism jobs to be considered permanent if they are created by the EB-5 investment and are expected to last at least two years. ISOs will also be instructed that the full-time jobs cannot be an aggregate of several part-time jobs and cannot be filled by independent contractors.
  • Determining Targeted Employment Area (TEA): The revised AFM will include guidance in determining whether the investment is in a TEA, allowing the EB-5 investor to invest $500,000 rather than $1,000,000. If the RC project is located in a TEA at the time of the investment, it qualifies as being in a TEA even if the unemployment rate goes down after the investment, because job creation is the goal of the EB-5 program. A claim that only a portion of a geographic area has high unemployment is seen as an attempt to “gerrymander” a finding of high unemployment and is not accepted without a state government designation.

Instructions for commenting on the Neufeld EB-5 memo are at http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=f19102992a2ac210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=f19102992a2ac210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD.

Back to Top


4. USCIS Acknowledges Problems with Online Case Tracking

At a recent meeting with USCIS, the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) expressed its concern that case status updates are not being posted on USCIS’s online tracking system, Customer Relationship Interface System (CRIS). In particular, AILA said that when a petition is transferred to another service center, CRIS does not show to which center the filing was transferred and no additional updates are made. So, for example, if a request for evidence (RFE) is sent but not received, and there is no indication of an RFE in CRIS, the case may be denied due to abandonment, particularly if USCIS records indicate that the notice was mailed to a correct address. USCIS’s Customer Service Directorate acknowledged the problems and promised to update CRIS to correct them.

In addition, USCIS recently said it is taking longer than usual to issue receipts for all filings due to the high volume of petitions filed before the USCIS fee increases took effect on November 23, 2010. In response to an inquiry, USCIS said it will take up to a month from the issuance of a receipt before the information is available to be tracked on CRIS.

Back to Top


5. AILA EB-5 Conference

An EB-5 conference sponsored by the American Immigration Lawyers Association is scheduled for March 14, 2011, at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Three ABIL members are scheduled to speak at the conference: Ronald Klasko (bio: https://www.abil.com/lawyers/lawyers-klasko.cfm), Bernard Wolfsdorf (bio: https://www.abil.com/lawyers/lawyers-wolfsdorf.cfm), and Stephen Yale-Loehr (bio: https://www.abil.com/lawyers/lawyers-loehr.cfm). For more information, see http://www.aila.org/content/default.aspx?docid=33810.
Back to Top


6. New Publications and Items of Interest

USCIS blog entry on the EB-5 program. USCIS published a blog entry on November 30, 2010, “What is the EB-5 program?” The blog includes many comments from the public. The blog entry, on “Beacon: The Official Blog of USCIS,” is available at http://blog.uscis.gov/2010/11/what-is-eb-5-program_30.html.
Back to Top


7. Member News

Stephen Yale-Loehr was quoted in a December 22, 2010, Reuters article about the EB-5 immigrant investor program. Mr. Yale-Loehr noted that properly administered, the EB-5 program benefits the U.S. and investors in four ways. “No. 1, it’s a win for the U.S. businesses that might not be able to finish a project but for foreign financing…. No. 2, it’s a win for the foreign investor, obviously, because they get a green card out of it. No. 3, it’s a win for the U.S. taxpayer because they are seeing the benefits of an increase in economic activity at no expense … and No. 4, it’s a win for U.S. workers because jobs are being created.” The article is available at http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCATRE6BL2KJ20101222.
Back to Top


8. EB-5 Government Agency Links

USCIS Web Page on EB-5 Immigrant Investors: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextchannel=facb83453d4a3210VgnVCM100000b92ca60aRCRD&vgnextoid=facb83453d4a3210VgnVCM100000b92ca60aRCRD

USCIS Policy and Procedural Memoranda on EB-5 Investors: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextchannel=f1f051b4b1af3110VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD&vgnextoid=f1f051b4b1af3110VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD

Immigrant Investor Regional Centers List: http://www.uscis.gov/eb-5centers

Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=79a7105b5904d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=7d316c0b4c3bf110VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD

Form I-829, Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=d4f63591ec04d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=7d316c0b4c3bf110VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD

Form I-924, Application for Regional Center Under the Immigrant Investor Pilot Program: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=7387e6b2fc57c210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=7d316c0b4c3bf110VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD

Form I-924A, Supplement to Form I-924: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=256866fcd667c210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=7d316c0b4c3bf110VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD

https://www.abil.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/ABIL_Logo-2021.png 0 0 ABIL https://www.abil.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/ABIL_Logo-2021.png ABIL2011-01-01 12:43:512019-04-15 12:47:24EB-5 & Other Investor News from the Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers Vol. 1, No. 1 • January 01, 2011
Page 2 of 212

Archive

  • September 2025
  • August 2025
  • July 2025
  • June 2025
  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • October 2020
  • August 2020
  • June 2020
  • April 2020
  • February 2020
  • December 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007
  • February 2007
  • January 2007
  • December 2006
  • November 2006
  • October 2006
  • September 2006
  • August 2006
  • July 2006
  • June 2006
  • May 2006
  • April 2006

ABIL is a corporation with over 40 top-rated immigration law firms and 1,500+ professionals.

News

  • ABIL Immigration Insider • September 7, 2025
  • ABIL Global Update • August 2025
  • ABIL Immigration Insider • August 3, 2025
  • ABIL Immigration Insider • July 6, 2025

Sign Up for our Newsletters

Sign up for our Immigration Insider & Global Updates Newsletters

Select list(s) to subscribe to


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: . You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact
© Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers (ABIL) All Rights Reserved 2025
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Home
  • About
  • ABIL Lawyers
  • Global Immigration
  • Services
  • Industries
  • Resources
  • Contact
Scroll to top