Both the United States Citizen & immigration Services (USCIS) and the United States Department of State (DOS) have posted improvements in the processing times for EB-5 applicants. For the initial I-526 application approval done through USCIS, the average processing time for 2019 decreased to 19.8 months, with a historical average of 12.6 months (see posting on USCIS website HERE: https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/historic-pt ). We have also witnessed recent approvals in as little as 7 months.

There seems to be an increase in the number of approvals since the start of the COVID 19 pandemic. It is suspected that USCIS has been directed to expedite the processing of applications that stimulate job and economic growth in the US. Furthermore, the EB-5 program has been excluded from the Trump immigration ban. The fact that EB-5 was excluded from the immigration ban shows that the EB-5 program has support from the highest level, despite Trump being perhaps the most anti-immigration president in recent history. See executive order on the White House web page HERE: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/proclamation-suspending-entry-immigrants-present-risk-u-s-labor-market-economic-recovery-following-covid-19-outbreak/

The improvements in processing times from both USCIS and DOS, as well as the exemption of the EB-5 program from the Trump immigration ban is much welcome news to EB-5 stakeholders and shows that even during the most troubling of times, the EB-5 program still received widespread support from the US government.