Latest / IMI Podcasts / EB-S Golden Age? Application: Volume, Processing Efficiency, and Project Quality All Rising

Transcript

EB-S Golden Age? Application: Volume, Processing Efficiency, and Project Quality All Rising · IMI Podcasts

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Last week, USCIS published new data for fiscal quarter two, twenty twenty four, covering petitions processed from january first, twenty fourteen to march thirty first, twenty twenty four.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: The new numbers look positive.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: The number of new applicants is increasing, and USCIS's efficiency is also improving.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: The first step in the EB five program is an application for conditional residency in the US to apply, investors need to invest funds and prove that their source of funds is lawful.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: 1,879 new EB five applicants started their journey in Q2, the highest number of quarterly applications since the EB five Reform and Integrity Act of 2022.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: This is more than three times higher than the same period in fiscal 2023 when only 535 applicants were recorded, and three times higher than in Q12024.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Sixty-nine of the new applicants chose to start their own businesses, while the overwhelming majority chose the regional center option.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: The petitions reviewed in Q22024 were mostly for pre-RIA investors who filed their applications before March 2022.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: 1,874 investors finally received their decisions at the beginning of the year, with a denial rate of 23%.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: Additionally, USCIS processed only 172 new forms for investors who filed after the RIA.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: In total, USCIS processed 2,046 I-526 petitions, the highest number of I-526 petitions reviewed since March 2022.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: The number of people waiting for review is also the lowest in the last few years.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: 10,605 investors, of whom 6,666 filed their applications before March 2022.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: The EB5 program requires the creation of ten new jobs, which the investor verifies in the second application, form I eight hundred twenty-nine, request to remove conditions.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: The investor files this form following two years of conditional residency in the USUSCIS, received two hundred and thirty seven applications for removal of status in Q two twenty twenty-four.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: In the same period it reviewed one thousand nine hundred and thirty eight petitions, of which it denied only four percent.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: For comparison, only eighty-seven petitions were filed in Q one twenty twenty four and three hundred fifty two in Q two twenty twenty three.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: USCIS still has seven thousand three hundred sixty seven applicants awaiting their decision.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: However, the trend towards a lower number of pending applications continues.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: Seventy-six new regional centers applied for registration with USCIS, which is more than twice the number in Q12024, when only 33 forms were filed.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: The number of new projects filed with USCIS was eighty-eight, which is also higher than in Q12024 and Q2 2023, where 50 and 64 forms were filed, respectively.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Since the RIA 2022, all foreign companies promoting EB5 projects must be registered with USCIS.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: The form for registration is the I956K 124 new applications for initial registrations, amendments, and new employees were filed in Q2 2024.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: A total of 925 applications are pending review.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: None have been approved or denied so far.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: The EB5 program is entering a new stage of its life, which many experts are calling the golden age of EB five.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: Although there are still many uncertainties about the program's rules, the number of applicants is increasing, there are more and better projects on the market, and USCIS is improving its efficiency.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: This episode first appeared as an article by Varvara Latinseva on IMIDAily.com.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: Subscribe for free to the IMI newsletter for breaking news and updates from the investment migration industry, and consider upgrading your membership to IMI Pro to get insider access to networking opportunities, industry events, data, and members only content.