USCIS Announces the Creation of a Separate EB-5 Program Office

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has announced the creation of a separate office which would be tasked with overseeing the EB-5 immigrant investor program.

Yesterday, July 18, 2012, USCIS Director Mayorkas announced that his agency has and will continue to increase the number of staff dedicated to the EB-5 immigrant investor program.    This is in a direct result of earlier criticism of too-long processing times and aims to streamline and provide a faster and (hopefully) more predictable EB-5 application review process.  Director Mayorkas identified the tens of thousands of new jobs for US workers and the billions of dollars injected by EB-5 immigrant investors into the US to date.  He also summarized efforts to date to increase agency resources dedicated to the EB-5 program.

USCIS is recruiting a new Chief of Immigrant Investor Program to manage the newly created office and that two full-time attorneys are being added to the program’s team.    Also, a Review Board is expected to be instituted by the end of July to review every pending application for regional center designation in which a denial has been recommended (essentially, a secondary review process for denials).  Regional center applicants will receive the opportunity to discuss their cases in-person before any final adverse decision.    The goal is to continue to deny regional center applications which do not deserve certification, but to allow legitimate regional center applications to have the certainty that adequate process exists to explain and support an application which may otherwise be denied.

EB-5 Program Office Creation Positive Step; Impact Yet Unknown

It is still too early to anticipate what the impact of the newly created EB-5 Program office would be.   The government’s goals are clear — make it easier for the U.S. to attract qualified foreign investors by streamlining the process and making the process faster and more predictable.      The EB-5 immigrant visa category remains one of the few categories with available visa numbers for this fiscal year.   According to recent data provided by the State Department,  approximately 6,200 immigrants will take advantage of the EB-5 program during this fiscal year, well under the allotted maximum of 10,000.    Demand is highest by nationals of China (3,710), South Korea (335) and Taiwan (106) distant second and third.

We will continue monitoring the development of this EB-5 Program Office and report on related news and developments as we continue to pursue EB-5 applications on behalf of our clients.     Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of any assistance or answer any questions.  We also invite you to subscribe to our free weekly immigration newsletter to receive timely updates on this and related topics.