Regional Center Applications Plummet 95%, Lowest Level in 6 Years
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) received only 25 I-924 applications – the petition private and public economic entities file to request status as a regional center under the EB-5 program – during the third quarter of fiscal year 2018.
The figure is the lowest on record since 2012 and represents a 95% decline since last quarter, according to IIUSA, the EB-5 program’s principal advocacy group.
Read also: SEC Charges Couple with $10 Million EB-5 Fraud and Cover-Up
According to the same organization, the decline may partly be attributable to the USCIS’ termination of 83 regional centers during 2017 alone.
The USCIS also rejected 108 regional center applications in Q3, leading to a hitherto unseen phenomenon in the EB-5 program; for the first time in the program’s history, I-924 application rejections exceeded the number of approvals.
Read also: EB-5: Regional Center Program Extended, IIUSA Supports Backlog Lawsuit
Processing speeds, on the other hand, have improved; the USCIS adjudicated 213 I-924 petitions in the third quarter, a 33% improvement on the preceding quarter.
To explore EB-5 data in further detail, become a member of the IIUSA here.
Christian Henrik Nesheim is the founder and editor of Investment Migration Insider, the #1 magazine – online or offline – for residency and citizenship by investment. He is an internationally recognized expert, speaker, documentary producer, and writer on the subject of investment migration, whose work is cited in the Economist, Bloomberg, Fortune, Forbes, Newsweek, and Business Insider. Norwegian by birth, Christian has spent the last 16 years in the United States, China, Spain, and Portugal.