From the Desk of the Executive Director
Reflecting on 2024, I am most struck by the association’s consistency; its ability to continue weathering storms and its propensity to consistently provide value-added services to its members.
Operationally, the association continued to make good decisions, increase its efficiencies, execute on its strategic plan, and for the first time, complete a formal financial review.
Programmatically, among many accomplishments, IIUSA continued to reach new markets across the globe, strengthen its political action committee, participate in important and impactful litigation, advocate its own legislation to bolster meaningful communications between industry representatives and USCIS decision makers, and organized four Congressional fly-ins.
Additionally, IIUSA published data-driven reports and analyses to inform industry stakeholders, connected more than 2,000 foreign intermediaries and prospective investors at 18 international events across 10 countries, hosted six topical webinars with over 700 total live attendees, continued to expand the “courses” available in the EB-5 Education Library, and saw a significant uptick in use of the EB-5 Basics Module.
Meanwhile, the association’s critical day-to-day services continued to churn, pushing out weekly information and communications and managing critical tools, like the TEA Map, which attracted more than 42,000 users and was used over 79,000 times in 2024!
Here is a look back at the year, where we began in 2024, and what lies ahead in 2025.
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2024 HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE
Finance – The association will end 2024 in a strong financial position, having again controlled costs, and exceeded revenue projections; it is expected to carry over $500,000 to its 2025 reserve fund.
Education – IIUSA’s education programming is geared to educate stakeholders, newcomers, the media, and public policy makers. The association is always looking to improve and diversify its offerings and successfully did so in 2024. In particular, IIUSA:
- Hosted six educational webinars with over 700 total live attendees;
- Maintained IIUSA’s reputation as the authority in professional development for EB-5 professionals at the 14th Annual EB-5 Industry Forum in Atlanta, GA with 50 speakers across 12 panels covering a wide range of pertinent topics to the industry;
- Continued to expand the “courses” available in the EB-5 Education Library; and
- Saw a significant uptick in the interest in and use of the EB-5 Basics Module.
Government Affairs – IIUSA’s government affairs membership service is the association’s backbone. Its government affairs initiatives continued to further the causes of ensuring a (re)authorization, increasing and protecting visa numbers, and bettering communications with USCIS. IIUSA and its lobbying team spent considerable time educating policymakers and their staffs about the EB-5 Regional Center Program and developing a coalition of supporters on which IIUSA can lean in the coming months and years to assure the program’s success and longevity. Specifically, IIUSA:
- Executed three critical advocacy fly-ins on Capitol Hill with members of the IIUSA Leadership Circle, further solidifying IIUSA’s presence in Washington, DC and ensuring lawmakers are educated about the EB-5 Program, its goals, and its successes;
- Increased support for IIUSA’s own legislation to establish an “Advisory Committee” within USCIS;
- Maintained critical staff level relationships throughout the year by staying in touch with key committee staff and keeping them updated on IIUSA’s and the industry’s current events and developments; and
Continued managing and growing the association’s affiliated political action committee (the IIUSA PAC) to help assure candidates awareness and support of IIUSA’s EB-5 priorities.
Events – IIUSA events continue to set the standard for industry education, networking and business development. In 2024 the association saw:
- 300+ attendees, 50 speakers, 40+ sponsors at the annual EB-5 Industry Forum
- 18 Passport Series events across 10 countries, including expansion to new markets such as Singapore and Peru;
- All-time high in revenue;
- A return to China for the first time since 2017.
Data Development & Management – Curated impactful data underlies almost everything IIUSA does and informs its members’ decisions. This year, IIUSA:
- Continued to enhance its data resources, including the TEA Mapping Tool, EB-5 Visa Data Dashboard, and I-526E Data Dashboard, resulting in a 200% year-over-year increase in active users;
- Launched a data collection initiative and subsequent report on post-RIA EB-5 processing times, addressing critical information gaps that USCIS has not published;
- Provided the industry with in-depth analyses of country-specific trends in case filings, adjudications, and EB-5 visa demand and supply; and
- Initiated an updated economic impact study for the EB-5 Program.
