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Original Date Announced
January 29, 2020USCIS announces Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Investor, will now be processed on a visa availability approach, rather than a first-in, first-out basis. [ID #581]
USCIS Adjusts Process for Managing EB-5 Visa Petition InvestorEffective Date
March 31, 2020Biden Administration Action: Modified
June 1, 2022Form I-526 Immigrant Petition by Standalone Investor
USCIS released the 6/1/2022 edition of Form I-526 which has been modified and retitled as the Immigrant Petition for Standalone Investor. The new form is split into two versions (Form I-526 and Form I-526E) to accommodate the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, which made significant changes to both the filing and eligibility requirements for investors under the EB-5 program.
View DocumentBiden Administration Action: Modified
July 12, 20227.12.22 - USCIS Releases Revised Form I-526
USCIS announces that starting July 12, 2022, USCIS is accepting the new Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by a Standalone Investor. Starting September 12, 2022, USCIS will only accept the 06/01/22 edition. Until then, stakeholders can also use the 04/15/19 E, 04/15/19, and 11/21/19 editions.
View DocumentBiden Administration Action: Modified
July 18, 2023USCIS Update to Visa Availability Approach for Form I-526
On July 18, 2023, USCIS updated the visa availability approach for managing the inventory of Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Investor. This update modifies the I-526 processing and "first-in, first-out" visa ability approach described in the original post.
The USCIS Immigrant Investor Program Office (IPO) now determines visa availability by grouping I-526 petitions into three “queues” for adjudication. The first queue contains petitions for which a visa is not yet available (and will not be available soon). The second queue contains petitions related to projects that IPO has not previously reviewed. The third queue contains Form I-526 petitions for which a visa is available (or soon to be available) because they pertain to a reviewed project or “non-pooled” (single investor) standalone project. Form I-526 petitions from this queue are assigned to officers for adjudication, generally in first-in, first-out order.
USCIS asserts this update will allow the IPO to process Form I-526 petitions more efficiently because they will handle multiple petitions associated with the same new commercial enterprise (NCE), making it easier to simultaneously review petitions that have overlapping project documentation.
View DocumentCurrent Status
Partially in effectMost Recent Action
July 18, 2023 Action: Modified USCIS Update to Visa Availability Approach for Form I-526June 1, 2022Acted on by Biden Administration
July 12, 2022Acted on by Biden Administration
July 18, 2023Acted on by Biden Administration
Original Trump Policy Status
Status: Final/ActualTrump Administration Action: Agency DirectiveSubject Matter: Immigrant Visas: Employment-BasedAgencies Affected: USCISPre Trump-Era Policies
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March 17, 2020
Under the prior "First In, First Out" (FIFO) process, generally USCIS processed Form I-526 petitions in the order received. Under the FIFO process, consequently, petitioners without immigrant visa numbers available would tend to be processed ahead of those with visa numbers available, given that the oldest Form I-526 petitions are primarily from countries that are now oversubscribed. (i.e.. the country’s immigrant visa demand exceeds the supply of visa numbers available for allocation in a given classification from the State Dept.).
Questions and Answers: EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program Visa Availability Approach