August 5, 2024
High-fives and cheers erupted at the office on that spring day of 2011 when we received the USCIS approval for American Venture Solutions Regional Center. As we launched our first EB-5 offerings, the enthusiasm was palpable about the future of EB-5. Everyone involved – the Regional Centers, the U.S. Job Creating Enterprises in which the EB-5 capital was invested….even the USCIS – sincerely believed at the time that EB-5 investors could reliably count on navigating the process from initial I-526 filing through I-829 approval of permanent US residency in 4-5 years.
BOY were we wrong.
Between USCIS adjudication delays, COVID, repeated expirations/renewals of the old EB-5 program and its final ending in June 2021, many EB-5 investors have faced the reality of a decade or more of waiting. Thankfully, since the enactment of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA) and its long-overdue changes to the program, we are seeing positive trends in adjudication timelines. But for those Pre-RIA EB-5 investors in the pipeline, the process marches on….so it is important to celebrate these victories as they trickle in.
In the past month, 3 AVSRC investor families finally got their I-526 immigrant visa appointment letters and 2 (waaaaaay overdue) AVSRC investor families – from two different AVS EB-5 offerings -received their I-829 approvals. While these successes may not appear to be as dramatic as that initial approval of the Regional Center, they are every bit as important. Each of these milestones means a family will finally be able to immigrate as EB-5 conditional residents to the U.S. or that after years in conditional residency, families finally have the peace of mind that comes with permanent residency…and the opportunity to seek U.S. citizenship and U.S. passport!
For the past 13 years, AVSRC has maintained a 100% approval record on I-829s, a record we intend to preserve going forward on behalf of those investors still in the pipeline.
Attorney José E. Latour
