On November 18, the official website of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released the latest data on U.S. investment immigration EB-5 filings and approvals for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2015 (July 1 to September 30, 2015). In an effort to catch the last train before the September 30 policy changes and price increases, the EB-5 industry experienced a historic surge in filings, which is fully reflected and substantiated by the data. Worldway now summarizes these major data points as follows:
I-526 Immigration Petitions (Figure 1 below): As of the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2015, there were 17,367 pending applications. The volume of I-526 applications in the fourth quarter was approximately three times that of previous quarters, reaching a historic high.
I-829 Petitions to Remove Conditions (Figure 2 below): As of the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2015, there were 4,049 pending applications. While the USCIS did not disclose the number of I-829 denials for a single quarter, it did report that the total number of denials for the entire year was 11. Meanwhile, the volume of I-829 applications and the approval rate of 99% (see Figures 2 and 4 for details) also reached historic highs.
All data since the establishment of the EB-5 Act (Figure 3 below):
2005-2015 I-526 and I-829 Approval Rate Reference (Figure 4 below):
[Worldway Analysis] Overall, the 2015 U.S. EB-5 investment immigration data showed a historic "triple high" in both I-526 and I-829 categories. Specifically, the volume of I-526 applications, the volume of I-829 applications, and the I-829 approval rate all reached historic highs. This was primarily due to the frenzy to catch the last train before the September 30 deadline following the introduction of the S.1501 bill, which brought about policy changes and price increases. Looking ahead, the expected approval rate for I-526 remains basically stable. I-829, which relates to the removal of conditions for investors' permanent green cards, remains the key focus when selecting projects. In addition to the confirmed consensus on price increases, the latest EB-5 bill may also bring four major changes: TEA reforms, the strictest grandfathering rules, mandatory pre-approval procedures, and a major overhaul of job calculation methods. EB-5 investors should not hesitate. As the countdown to the December 11 policy change and price increase begins, investors should strive to seize the final opportunity for $500,000 investment immigration to the U.S., while simultaneously applying, signing, investing, rushing to make payments, and successfully completing the filing process as soon as possible.
As a leading institution in U.S. investment immigration, Worldway has always emphasized the philosophy of strictly controlling risks and carefully selecting projects. Currently, the projects offered by Worldway—the DLJ Four Seasons Hotel Resort project and the 90 Columbus apartment project—are the best choices for dealing with the December 11 policy changes. Among these three projects, the DLJ Four Seasons Hotel project received exemplar pre-approval in March of this year, and investors' I-526 applications have already been approved; the 90 Columbus project received exemplar pre-approval in May of this year, so the ongoing I-526 approvals for investors in these two projects will not be affected after December 11.
More importantly, all three of these projects are high-quality projects that have already been successfully grandfathered. They are protected by the grandfathering rules and are not affected by TEA reforms or job calculation changes, allowing them to continue to enjoy the final $500,000 favorable policy.
In addition, these three projects also possess numerous advantages, including sufficient job creation, strong developers, sound exit mechanisms, and low investment and repayment risks. Of course, each project also has its own unique advantages. It is precisely because they possess many concentrated advantages that they have become the best choices in the EB-5 market to successfully catch the last train for U.S. immigration before December 11. Group purchase hotline: 400-138-2929