eb5exclusive

Inaccurate interpretations of numbers released by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has lead to a great deal of misinformation about the EB-5 visa program.

The USCIS recently released data about the number of I-829 cases handled so far during the 2010 fiscal year, which started on October 1, 2009. The numbers show that 438 I-829 cases filed and that 188 of them have been approved, compared to 33 denials, according to EB-5 Center.

Some foreign media outlets have been reporting this figure to mean that only 188 of the 438 I-829 cases have been approved while the balance of them were denied. This is not true, however. According to the news source, these reports miss the fact that the USCIS has not yet adjudicated all of the I-829 cases this year. It typically takes the agency six months to handle an I-829 case, so about half of the 438 cases from the 2010 fiscal year will be ruled upon during the 2011 fiscal year.

The EB-5 visa program allows foreign nationals to become eligible for U.S. green cards by investing $1 million (or in some areas, $500,000) in an American business. If that investment leads to the creation of 10 jobs then the investor becomes green card eligible.