For some time, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) inspectors have been urging the EB-5 adjudication department to strengthen the review of EB-5 investment projects, with the expectation of bringing positive momentum to the U.S. economy and employment, and realizing the policy objectives of the EB-5 investment immigration program. In the 2013 fiscal year, the U.S. National Visa Center issued a total of 8,567 EB-5 investment immigration visas, exceeding the 7,641 visas issued in fiscal year 2012 (of which 6,124 were for Chinese investors) and the 3,463 visas in fiscal year 2011.
Precisely because of the "EB-5 Adjudication Policy Memorandum," coupled with increasingly stringent supervision by USCIS, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and other departments, the review of EB-5 project applications by USCIS has become clearer and more efficient, objectively providing better protection for investors.
Due to the backlog of cases from 2012 and the significant increase in new EB-5 investment immigration applications in 2013, the average processing time for EB-5 project applications by USCIS reached 18.8 months in fiscal year 2013, with some cases even exceeding 20 months! After 2012, which the industry referred to as the "EB-5 review freeze period," the fact that the average processing time for USCIS did not decrease but instead increased may seem abnormal, but it is actually reasonable.
It is conceivable that it was precisely because of the nearly two-year policy adjustment period before May 2013 that USCIS accumulated a large backlog of EB-5 project application cases. Combined with the rapidly rising number of new applications, this indeed extended the average processing time in fiscal year 2013. It is a remarkable achievement that USCIS still managed to process a record-breaking 4,642 cases in fiscal year 2013.
The target processing time set internally by USCIS for EB-5 applications is 8 months. After the industry experienced the negative impact of individual problematic projects, the market demand for projects with rigorous organization and prudent evaluation has become more prominent. In handling the backlog from 2012 and new applications from 2013, USCIS has processed projects with authentic economic operational data and rigorous plans more efficiently. Worldway immigration experts believe that against the backdrop of the prominent positive role of EB-5 capital in the U.S. economy, investors have reason to look forward to benefiting from the gradually improving adjudication services of USCIS in the near future.
