Comment: Fake News About USCIS FAQs

Fake News About USCIS FAQs

There have been some mis-apprehensions about USCIS’s recently published FAQs on how it handles EB5 I-526E applications. To stay away from the fake news, and instead get the facts straight, here are what we believe to be the key takeaways from the FAQs:

1. USCIS is reverting to the visa availability approach under a new guise - the “FIFO” moniker is simply window dressing - it is just the old visa availability approach with a new brand name. Furthermore, contrary to the propaganda from some HUA projects, I-526E applications for rural EB5 projects will continue to have higher priority over HUA I-526E applications, despite this FAQ
2. USCIS is stating in black and white what they have nearly always done – that it will not process I-526E applications for a project until the project’s I-956F application is approved. Since USCIS has said this in clear terms in this FAQ, agents with projects which are I-956F approved are pointing this issue out to investors considering projects from agents whose projects are not I-956F approved. As a result, the market is witnessing a rush towards projects which have their I-956F applications already approved
3. If rural applications have higher priority and USCIS is processing investor petitions only for those projects that have I-956F approval, then it follows that rural projects with I-956F approvals are the hottest commodity in today’s EB5 marketplace. It also so happens that there is a shortage of rural projects with I-956F approvals whereas there are many HUA projects with I-956F approvals in the market. 

Conclusion: Rural projects with I-956F approvals are seeing, and will continue to see, significant market activity.

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