Quarterly Update from USCIS

Today 10/14 the USCIS Office of Public Engagement hosted its quarterly EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program Stakeholder Meeting by teleconference. Please consult the meeting presentation prepared by USCIS for the event, which includes useful updates and information about the EB-5 program, including the following statistics:

Regional Center Statistics

• There are currently 114 approved Regional Centers (RCs), operating in 34 states, inclusive of the District of Columbia and Guam.
• There are approximately 83 initial designation RC Proposals and 11 RC Proposals that request amendments to previously approved designation proposals pending with USCIS.
• The “target processing time” for RC designation proposals is four months while the current processing time is five months.  Considering the proposal backlog, “additional resources” including one additional EB-5 supervisor and a “substantial” number of new Immigration Services officers will be dedicated to the EB-5 team at the California Service Center. New staff are to begin training this fall.

Investor Petition and Visa Statistics

Approximately 90% of the individual Form I-526 petitions filed each year are filed by Alien Investors who are investing in RC affiliated commercial enterprises.

EB-5 Individual Petition Filing Receipts FY05-FY10*
Fiscal Year	Form I-526 Petition	Form I-829 Petition
FY 2010 (preliminary)*	1727	690
FY09	1028	437
FY08	1257	390
FY07	776	194
FY06	486	89
FY05	332	37

*The fiscal year runs from 10/1 to 9/30. FY2010 figures are for the full fiscal year, but not yet finalized by the relevant departments.

EB-5 Visa Usage
Fiscal Year	Total EB-5 Visas Issued
FY10 (Preliminary)	1,886*
FY09	4,218
FY08	1,360
FY07	806
FY06	744

*The USCIS representatives on the call did not know why this number is so much lower than FY09, considering the steadily-growing number of petition approvals. On average, there are 2.5 visas approved per investor.