In a letter dated June 11, 2019, Invest In the USA (IIUSA) expressed concerns to Ken Cuccinelli, Acting Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), about a “surge” in delays in processing immigrant petitions for alien entrepreneurs (Form I-526). IIUSA is an industry trade organization representing nearly 370 EB-5 stakeholder organizations.

The letter notes that based on the latest data on the USCIS website, the estimated processing time for I-526 completion is 29 to 45.5 months (as of May 2019). IIUSA’s analysis further found that:

  • The processing time for adjudicating I-526 petitions in the Immigrant Investor Program Office recently experienced a significant 32 percent to 60 percent surge within one month.
  • In a year-over-year comparison, the estimated I-526 processing time in May 2019 almost doubled from May 2018.

“The ever-lengthening delays in adjudicating investor petitions will further delay the deployment of the EB-5 funding to the project developers, many of which depend on the investment from the investors to complete the economic development projects in their local communities, creating jobs for American workers,” the group warned. The letter includes questions about causes, processing times, petition statistics, and personnel.

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