New RCs in 2011

As we reach the end of 2011, a few comments on Regional Center approvals this year:

• USCIS approved 74 new regional centers across 27 states in 2011. As of 12/31/2011, there were 211 entries on the USCIS list of approved Regional Centers (including duplicate listings for centers spanning more than one state).
• The greatest number of new centers was in California (28, or 38% of the total). Texas came in second with 9 new centers approved in 2011, followed by Washington (5 new centers), New York (4 new centers), Illinois (3 new centers) and Florida (3 new centers).
• A number of states added two new centers each, including Georgia, Hawaii, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Oregon, and Utah.
• States with one new center each include Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, and Ohio.
• An average of six new centers were announced per month, distributed throughout the year as follows:

Month (2011)	# of Centers Approved
January	2
February	0
March	7
April	5
May	7
June	7
July	5
August	11
September	13
October	6
November	4
December	7

• USCIS reports 176 initial RC proposal filings from 10/2010 to 09/2011, and 83 applications pending as of 06/2011. We’re still seeing applications from the 11/2010 rush making their way through the system, but I’ve also seen  faster approvals (for example applications approved in 09/2011 included one filed in 03/2011 and another filed in 05/2011).