EB-5 mmigrant investor must file an initial immigrant petition I-526 (Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur) for two year conditional permanent residency with supporting documentation to receive EB-5 immigrant classification.
During the I-526 filing stage, the immigrant investor must demonstrate his or her commitment to invest the capital, but does not need to establish the required capital already has been fully invested. The applicants must provide evidence that they have made a $500,000 to $1 million U.S. dollar investment of lawful capital in the new commercial enterprise.
According to USCIS statistics, I-526 refusals average 10.73%, about one in ten applications are refused. The refusal rate was at all time high of 20% in 2009 and in 2012, 15%. In Q1 2018 refusal rate stands at 10.4%
The most common reasons for refusals are
- Evidence for clean Source of funds
- Lack of sufficient documentation.
- Investment not creating sufficient jobs.
- Prior convictions or criminal record.
According to USCIS, the current processing time for
- I-526 is 20-26 months
- I-924 is 19.5 to 25.5 months
- I-485 processing times
- Miami FL (12 to 23.5 months)
- New York – 10 to 14 months
- Los Angeles – 4.5 to 25 months
- I-829 time 30 to 39 months.
You can check the processing times here
The pending applications at a historic high in 2017 and in 2018 with over 24,000 petitions are pending for approval with USCIS
| I-526 | Received | Pending | Refused | Refusal % |
| 2008 | 1258 | 853 | 120 | 9.54% |
| 2009 | 1031 | 514 | 208 | 20.17% |
| 2010 | 1953 | 1125 | 165 | 8.45% |
| 2011 | 3805 | 3347 | 372 | 9.78% |
| 2012 | 6041 | 5018 | 957 | 15.84% |
| 2013 | 6346 | 7131 | 943 | 14.86% |
| 2014 | 10950 | 12474 | 1266 | 11.56% |
| 2015 | 14373 | 17367 | 1056 | 7.35% |
| 2016 | 14147 | 20804 | 1735 | 12.26% |
| 2017 | 12165 | 24992 | 922 | 7.58% |
| Q1 2018 | 2862 | 24627 | 298 | 10.41% |
| Total | 74931 | 118252 | 8042 | 10.73% |
The Refusals of I-829 Petition by Entrepreneurs to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident at the lowest since 2015 around 2%.
| I-829 | Received | Approved | Denied | Pending | Refused |
| 2008 | 391 | 161 | 69 | 454 | 17.65% |
| 2009 | 437 | 350 | 57 | 735 | 13.04% |
| 2010 | 768 | 274 | 56 | 1167 | 7.29% |
| 2011 | 2345 | 1067 | 46 | 2395 | 1.96% |
| 2012 | 712 | 736 | 60 | 1013 | 8.43% |
| 2013 | 1217 | 844 | 44 | 1345 | 3.62% |
| 2014 | 2516 | 1603 | 178 | 2075 | 7.07% |
| 2015 | 2767 | 1067 | 11 | 4049 | 0.40% |
| 2016 | 3474 | 1758 | 102 | 6309 | 2.94% |
| 2017 | 2625 | 2589 | 55 | 6735 | 2.10% |
I-485 applications for Q1 2018
- Received 33,320
- Approved: 30,472
- Denied: 2,142
- Pending: 142,577
- Refusal rate: 6.4%
EB-5 Application Process
1. File Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur
2. Following approval of the Form I-526 petition, either:
- File Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, with USCIS to adjust status to a conditional permanent resident within the United States, or
- File DS-260, Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration, with the U.S. Department of State to obtain an EB-5 visa abroad to seek admission to the United States.
Upon the approval of a Form I-485 application or upon admission into the United States with an EB-5 immigrant visa, the EB-5 investor and derivative family members will be granted conditional permanent residence for a 2-year period.
3. File Form I-829, Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status, within the 90-day period immediately before the second anniversary of the EB-5 investor’s admission to the United States as a conditional permanent resident. If USCIS approves this petition, the conditions will be removed from the lawful permanent resident status of the EB-5 investor and any included dependents.
