EB5 Green Card News

Is the Investor Visa Program an Underperforming Asset?

Congress created the EB-5 visa program in 1990 as a tool to stimulate the U.S. economy by encouraging foreign capital investments and job creation. The EB-5 program makes immigrant visas and subsequent “green cards” available to foreign nationals who invest at least $1,000,000 in a new commercial enterprise (NCE) that will create or preserve at least ten full-time jobs in the United States. A foreign national may invest $500,000 if the investment is in a targeted employment area (TEA), defined to include certain rural areas and areas of high unemployment.

USCIS Releases Policy Memorandum on EB-5 Adjudication Policy

  • USCIS policy memorandum provide guidance for adjudicating EB-5 applications and petitions, addressing important issues like the preponderance of evidence standard, definition of “capital,” amount of capital that must be invested, definition of “targeted employment area” and more.
  • Please check attachment to read policy memo.

Demand Data Used in the Determination of Employment Preference Cut-Off Dates

Each month, the Visa Office subdivides the annual preference and foreign state limitations specified by the INA into monthly allotments based on totals of documentarily qualified immigrant visa applicants reported at consular posts and CIS Offices, grouped by foreign state chargeability, preference category, and priority date. If there are sufficient numbers in a particular category to satisfy all reported documentarily qualified demand, the category is considered "Current." For example: If the monthly allocation target is 3,000 and there is only demand for 1,000 applicants, the category wi