Updates and Resources (CanAm Whitepaper on Visa Allocation, IIUSA EB-5 Q&A, CSPA Policy Change, September Visa Bulletin, Mandamus, I-485)

This post provides links to important EB-5 resources and updates that I’ve been collecting to share.

New FAQ on Visa Backlogs (CanAm Whitepaper)

This week CanAm published EB-5 Visa Availability and Allocation: Q&A for 2025 – a set of articles that I wrote to address common visa questions from prospective and current EB-5 investors. Last year I wrote a Q&A that generally reviewed the basics of how visa numbers and allocation work in EB-5. This year’s Q&A addresses 13 more specific and personal questions, and references 2025 data. Most questions came from the CanAm sales team – such as “If I filed a Rural petition to get priority processing, am I required to take a Rural visa?”  “How long will it take for the Unreserved category to be current for an India-born investor?” “Is there any scenario where it would make sense for an investor in a Reserved category to choose from the Unreserved pool?” and so on. I contributed questions addressing points of confusion that I’ve encountered in timing consultations, such as “Is my visa wait time longer or shorter depending on my I-526E processing time?” I worked very hard on this Q&A, striving to respond as clearly and justly as I could to a list of tough questions about EB-5 visa availability and allocation. Thanks to CanAm for sponsoring the effort! There are many opportunities to get 1-2-sentence answers to EB-5 questions; this is your chance to get the 1-2-page response to your question.  

IIUSA EB-5 Q&A

IIUSA came out with an important and helpful Q&A resource this week for a wide audience.  IIUSA’s Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about the EB-5 Regional Center Program was developed by IIUSA’s Best Practices Committee as a practical guide for stakeholders involved in EB-5 transactions. The document is just 36 pages long but quite comprehensive – it could be a mini-book with the title “what you need to know to use EB-5.” A total of 78 questions cover a range of topics including investments, job creation, regional centers, projects, financial oversight, marketing and compliance, and the EB-5 immigration process. A lot of work, expertise, and experience obviously went into this document. The answers are clear and solid across a range of disciplines, and I recommend it as a source of general EB-5 knowledge for anyone involved in the project or investor side of EB-5.

USCIS EB-5 Q&A

I’ve been meaning to mention that on May 15, USCIS consolidated its EB-5 Q&A into one EB-5 Questions and Answers document linked to the USCIS EB-5 Resources page. The USCIS Q&A covers a range of questions about USCIS policy application, and particularly questions related to RIA implementation. I keep an eye on this page and save versions, because Q&A changes can quietly disclose revised USCIS policy interpretations. FYI if you track this as well, here’s a link to my redline of the May 15, 2025 version of the Q&A compared with the previous version as of July 17, 2024.

CSPA Policy Change

Last week, USCIS announced updated policy on the CSPA Age Calculation. “We are updating the Policy Manual to clarify that a visa becomes available for the purposes of Child Status Protection Act age calculation based on the Final Action Dates chart of the Department of State Visa Bulletin. The new guidance applies to requests filed on or after August 15, 2025.” Consistent with the administration’s goal to restrict immigration, the new policy will reduce the number of children who qualify to immigrate with their parents. It’s particularly concerning for EB-5 investor families from China and India who face long waits for their priority dates to match Final Action Dates. At least, the policy change applies prospectively to applications filed after the policy takes effect on August 15. Your lawyer can explain how this policy change may affect your children. See also articles on the policy change from Carolyn Lee and WR Immigration. Also note that while you’re asking your lawyer about CSPA bad news, you might also ask about the limits of the status conveyed by having a pending EB-5 I-485, EAD, and Advance Parole — and how to stay safe, especially in case of job change. It’s wise to be informed of potential worst-case scenarios when a hostile administration is interpreting the rules.

September Visa Bulletin and I-485 data

The September 2025 visa bulletin is out, with no changes to EB-5 dates but a note that “Visa Office expects to reach FY-2025 category limits in most employment-based preference categories during August and September. If at any time an annual limit were reached, it would be necessary to immediately make the preference category ‘unavailable’, and no further requests for numbers would be honored.” Reaching limits is good news: better for visas to be fully used than wasted. Considering the low numbers reported through May, however, the “most categories” maxing out FY2025 visas likely do not include EB-5 Rural, High Unemployment, or Infrastructure.

Monthly DOS and I-485 reports haven’t been published yet since May, but here FYI are my summaries of the May 5 pending I-485 inventory report, compared with the corresponding report from the start of FY2025.

EB-5 Webinars (Mandamus, Timing, Visas)

CanAm has been hosting webinars on a variety of hot EB-5 topics. I particularly appreciated the conversation with John Pratt on Avoiding and Addressing Delays in the EB-5 Process: Planning & Litigation (jump to minute 17 to hear John discussing the questions all EB-5 investors have about Mandamus actions) and the conversation with Joey Barnett and Charlie Oppenheim on EB-5 Visa Allocations and FY2026: Why the Numbers Matter More Than Ever. And you can tune in next week to hear more from Joey as well as Nicolai Hinrichsen, Min Wu and me on the topic of EB-5 Backlogs, Strategy, and What Investors Need to Know Now. (As someone with a face for whitepapers, I mainly recommend the written word for my backlog insights — but the other panelists have good insights! And I may be publishing another article soon with some outtakes from my slides.)

Blog support

If you benefit from this blog, just a reminder that I have a Paypal link available to help support the time spent in updates and making new resources. (Thanks Phuong Le for being a supporter and reminding me to make the contribution option visible!)