New USCIS Data Shows Remarkable Growth for EB-5 Program
Chicago (PRWEB) December 17, 2014 -- The Association to Invest in the USA (IIUSA), the national not-for-profit industry trade association for the EB-5 Regional Center Program (the "Program"), recently released its analysis of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data demonstrating significant growth of the EB-5 program in FY2014.
Under EB-5, a program created by Congress with broad bipartisan support, foreign nationals who invest between $500,000 and $1,000,000 dollars in approved U.S. businesses are eligible for permanent residency if the U.S. government confirms that their investment created at least 10 American jobs within two years of the investment.
According to IIUSA analysis, the number of investors seeking to participate in the Program in FY2014 increased by 72 percent compared to FY2013, and the number of investors requesting approval for permanent residency based on demonstrated job creation has more than doubled.
Specific data points of interest include:
• In FY2014, USCIS received 10,928 I-526 petitions to determine eligibility for the EB-5 Program, compared to 6,346 I-526s received in FY2013.
• USCIS approved 5,115 I-526 petitions in FY2014 – representing approximately $2.6 billion in capital designated for investment in U.S. job-creating projects
• In FY2014, USCIS received 2,516 I-829 petitions to remove visa conditions based on demonstrated job creation compared to 1,217 I-829s received in FY2013
• USCIS approved 1,603 I-829 petitions which represents at least 16,030 American jobs created by EB-5 capital
“The numbers released by USCIS point to astounding growth of investors participating in the EB-5 Program as well as investors demonstrating jobs created by EB-5-funded projects,” said IIUSA Executive Director Peter Joseph. “The increase of approved investors in the past year, compared to those from 2008 when our country was entering its devastating economic downturn, is nearly 800 percent; and the number of completed projects in FY2014 has similarly skyrocketed. Public and private developers alike have found EB-5 to be immensely valuable in bringing jobs and industry to the U.S., and these are the numbers to prove it.”
IIUSA’s analysis also notes that 1,266 I-526 and 178 1-829 petitions were denied, demonstrating the rigorous scrutiny and oversight exercised by USCIS as well as the risk required by law for those participating in the EB-5 program.
“USCIS has taken important steps in the last year to improve its ability to evaluate petitions and projects and strengthen the integrity of the program," said Joseph. "IIUSA will continue to advocate for integrity measures as well as Congressional reauthorization of the program that continues to bring much-needed capital and job creation to communities across the country.”
Allen J. Wolff, Association to Invest In the USA (IIUSA), http://www.iiusa.org, +1 (773) 899-0563, [email protected]
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