The Director of USCIS Mr. Alejandro Mayorkas announced today the creation of a new office overseeing the EB5 Investor Visa program. Below is a copy of his message. This new action gives me hope that the program will continue beyond September 2012 when it is scheduled to sunset. I will be monitoring any updates and will post information in due course. Watson Immigration Law applauds the Director for all the efforts he is making towards this and other business immigration improvements. – Tahmina
Message from the Director
I am pleased to announce that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will
be creating a new office to oversee our administration of the EB-5 Immigrant Investor
program.
The EB-5 program has spurred the creation of tens of thousands of new jobs and the
injection of billions of dollars into the U.S. economy since Congress created the program
in 1990. Interest in the EB-5 program has grown exponentially in recent years, both from
domestic project developers seeking capital and foreign investors who have the capital
that can fuel economic growth. USCIS has met this unprecedented growth and interest
with a corresponding dedication of resources. USCIS has approved more than 3,100
Form I-526 petitions in Fiscal Year 2012 to date, more than triple the number approved in
all of Fiscal Year 2009. Since 2009, we have quadrupled the size of the EB-5
adjudications team and brought on board eight expert economists dedicated to the EB-5
program to ensure that EB-5 cases are handled expeditiously and with appropriate
expertise. In the next month, two full-time attorneys with substantial transactional
experience will enter on duty as new additions to the USCIS EB-5 program team. And
by the end of July, a special Review Board consisting of two Supervisory Immigration
Services Officers and one economist will review every pending application for regional
center designation for which a denial has been recommended, with applicants receiving
the opportunity to discuss their cases in-person before any final adverse decision is
rendered.
By now creating a dedicated program office, we will build on these steps toward ensuring
that this important and complex program is appropriately resourced and managed under a
single leadership structure.
I am also excited to announce that the new office will be led by a new Chief of Immigrant
Investor Programs, and that an advertisement for this new leadership position will be
posting today. Our new program chief will have significant experience in the business
world and will assume responsibility for ensuring that the program is administered
efficiently, with integrity, with predictability, and with an understanding of today’s
business realities.
We understand that more work needs to be done to further improve our administration of
the EB-5 program. We are committed to this work. USCIS welcomes and appreciates
your input as we stand up our new EB-5 Program Office.
Thank you.
Alejandro N. Mayorkas
Director
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services