USCIS, in an effort to improve the EB-5 Immigrant Investor program, has
published a draft of changes for public comment. Based on meetings with
internal and external stakeholders regarding the current adjudication
policies and practices, USCIS has taken a series of steps. These steps
include introducing a direct email contact between Regional Center
practitioners and the USCIS adjudication team, introducing an
accelerated process and premium processing for some applicants and
petitioners, using an expert decision board to assist adjudicators in
making final decisions on Regional Center petitions, bringing in
economists to help guide and support USCIS’ adjudication team and hiring
a consulting firm to help reengineer the adjudication process to ensure
a more efficient system.
USCIS states that additional reforms are planned in the future. In
addition, USCIS plans to consolidate various EB-5 changes into a single
overarching policy statement that will bring together constructive
stakeholder input into a single statement.
