Recently, the Immigration Bureau released the latest data on the processing of EB-5 cases for the second quarter of fiscal year 2014 (from January 1, 2014, to March 31, 2014) on its official website.
Latest data on I-526 applications:
As shown in the above image, the approval rate for I-526 in the second quarter of fiscal year 2014 has increased, with the number of rejections decreasing, achieving an approval rate of 84.76%.
Latest data on I-829 applications:
The above image shows that the approval rate for I-829 in the second quarter of fiscal year 2014 is similar to that of the first quarter, at 79.84% and 78.71%, respectively.
The highest approval rate for I-924 was recorded in the third quarter of fiscal year 2013 (the second quarter of calendar year 2013), with an approval rate of 94.79%.
Based on the above data, experts from Worldway summarize the overall trends in U.S. investment immigration as follows:
Strict review of "strict entry and lenient exit" is more beneficial for investors.
From a macro perspective, several EB-5 projects received I-526 approvals in the first quarter of 2014, but the number of project requests for additional documentation also increased. It can be seen that the U.S. Immigration Bureau is becoming increasingly strict in its review of I-526 applications, while showing a more lenient approach to I-829 processing. The Immigration Bureau has raised many review and scrutiny requirements that were previously only applicable at the I-829 stage to the I-526 stage, providing project analysis and requests for additional documentation, which indirectly protects the rights of investors. According to statistics from the U.S. investment immigration data for fiscal year 2013, the approval rate for I-526 over the past three years has been approximately 83.7%, while the approval rate for I-829 permanent green cards has exceeded 90%, reaching as high as 95% in 2013. This trend of "strict entry and lenient exit" will further benefit investors in obtaining their permanent green cards and reflects the increasing maturity and standardization of EB-5 investment immigration.
The influence of EB-5 is expanding, and the economic benefits to the United States are increasing.
As of February 2014, the economic impact of EB-5 projects on the United States has doubled, bringing nearly $3.4 billion in investments and creating over 42,000 jobs. Experts from Worldway remind investors that the economic benefits brought by EB-5 projects have led to an increasing number of projects willing to utilize EB-5 funds, but investors also need to be discerning and choose projects with lower risk factors and guaranteed repayment capabilities as their investment options.
The processing time at the U.S. Immigration Bureau has been shortened.
EB-5 investment immigration has made a significant contribution to the recovery of the U.S. economy, and the Immigration Bureau is continuously accelerating the approval process for EB-5 investment immigration applications. According to the latest information from the Immigration Bureau's official website, the average review time for I-526 has been expedited to 9.4 months, and the review speed for I-829 has increased to 10.7 months. This is largely due to the establishment of the new office in Washington, which is currently increasing the number of immigration officers handling cases, planning to increase from the current 60 immigration officers to 100. This also indicates that the U.S. Immigration Bureau has begun to take action to shorten the review time for I-526 to 8 months.
