EB-5 Statistics 6/16/2010

June 17, 2010 Leave a comment

The following statistics related to the EB-5 program were reported by USCIS at the EB-5 stakeholder meeting on 6/16/2010:

  • There are currently 94 approved Regional Centers (RCs), operating in 34 states, inclusive of the District of Columbia and Guam.
  • Approximately 90-95% of the individual Form I-526 petitions filed each year are filed by Alien Investors who are investing in RC-affiliated commercial enterprises.
  • There are approximately 65 RC Proposals pending with USCIS.

Statistics for EB-5 visas reflect the increasing popularity of the program, and a relatively high rate of approval.

Individual EB-5 Petition Statistics Oct – May FY 2010
Receipts Approvals Denials
Form I-526 Petition 1,100 955 113
Form I-829 Petition 438 188 33
Individual EB-5 Petition Statistics FY 2009
Receipts Approvals Denials
Form I-526 Petition 1,028 966 163
Form I-829 Petition 437 335 55
EB-5 Visa Usage
Fiscal Year Total EB-5 Visas Issued
FY10 (Oct-May) 1,494 (32% I-485, 68% DS-230)
FY09 4,218 (24% I-485, 76% DS-230)
FY08 1,360
FY07 806
FY06 774

Filed under EB-5 in the News, EB-5 Statistics, Updates from USCIS

RC Name Changes

June 11, 2010 Leave a comment

The USCIS list of approved Regional Centers has already been updated again, as of 6/10/2010, this time with a few name changes:

  • EB-5 America is now DC Regional Center.
  • Invest Idaho Innovation Regional Center has dropped “Innovation” from its title.

Filed under EB-5 in the News

“Pay to stay” news story

June 1, 2010 Leave a comment

IIUSA brought to my attention this useful article published a couple weeks ago, which discusses the EB-5 program in some depth with special reference to Regional Centers in California. The article also cites these important-to-keep-in-mind stats on the breakdown of EB-5 visas issued in 2009:

    China: 1,979
    South Korea: 903
    Britain: 326
    Canada: 85
    Japan: 84
    India: 72
    Russia: 60
    Netherlands: 38
    Mexico: 33
    South Africa: 31

See the U.S. State Department website for complete EB-5 visa statistics.

Filed under EB-5 in the News, EB-5 Statistics

CNBC on EB-5

May 26, 2010 Leave a comment

CNBC is talking about EB-5 today. The report provides a fairly comprehensive overview of the program, and features a stand-alone EB-5 example. They kindly don’t go into much detail comparing EB-5 to Canada’s smooth “buy a green card” program.

Filed under EB-5 in the News

CFIG Regional Center expanded

May 5, 2010 Leave a comment

Chicagoland Foreign Investment Group (CFIG) Regional Center, the first Regional Center in Illinois, has been expanded to include the Indiana counties of Jasper, Lake, La Porte, Newton and Porter and the Wisconsin counties of Adams, Columbia, Crawford, Dane, Grant, Green, Iowa, Jefferson, Juneau, Lafayette, Rock and Sauk.
The list of approved industries has also been expanded to: Accommodations and Food Services, Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting, Educational Services, Arts, Entertainment and Recreation, Manufacturing, Healthcare and Social Assistance, Transportation, Retail Trade, and Utilities.

Filed under EB-5 in the News

New California Regional Center

April 20, 2010 Leave a comment

The USCIS list of approved regional centers is now updated as of 4/13, and one new Regional Center has been added: US Employment Development Lending Center, LLC, approved for the State of California and the following industry clusters: Construction, Professional Services, Other Services, Agriculture, Manufacturing, Information Services and Health Services. I am impressed that a Florida-based applicant involved in REO wholesale (John Shen of Dobty Group) was able to receive designation for the whole state of California and for industries as flexibly defined as “other services.” John Shen is also associated with International Project Consulting Group, which offers “one-stop marketing support” to Regional Centers.

Update: The contact info for this new regional center is changed as of the 4/21 USCIS list to one Leo Zhou based in Long Beach, CA.

Filed under EB-5 in the News

StartUp Visa Act of 2010

February 24, 2010 Leave a comment

Today Senators John Kerry and Richard Lugar introduced the “StartUp Visa Act of 2010,” which proposes a new EB-6 category visa for immigrant entrepreneurs.

Read more of this post

Filed under EB-5 in the News

EB-5 Program in the News

January 12, 2010 Leave a comment

The Washington Post and Forbes (followed by ABC Money) came out this weekend with articles on the EB-5 program: Immigrants invest in U.S. businesses in exchange for visas and A Precious Capital Source For Small Biz. Though Forbes refers to EB-5 as “a quick-and-dirty-U.S.visa” and notes complaints that “EB-5 runs about as efficiently as the DMV,” the articles are mainly positive and include favorable interviews with investors, regional centers, and elected officials. I was interested to see confirmation of the statistic that 70 percent of immigrants granted investor visas in fiscal 2009 were from China or South Korea.

Filed under EB-5 in the News Tagged with

Newer posts →