On June 2nd, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 second quarter adjudication data of I-526 and I-829 petitions which reveal some interesting processing trends. To view the I-526 data report, click here. To view the I-829 data report, click here.
Record Breaking Quarter for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Contributed by the EB-5 Program
The EB-5 Program saw $989 million contributed to FDI in Q2, the highest total in Program history. Minimum FDI is calculated by multiplying the number of I-526 Approvals by the minimum investment amount $500,000). Through two quarters, the EB-5 Program has contributed over $1.8 billion to U.S. FDI in 2015, compared to a total of $2.55 billion in FY 2014.
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Minimum Foreign Direct Investments ($Millions) Contributed by EB-5 Program by Quarter. To view the full I-526 report, click the link above.
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I-526 Petition Processing
For I-526 Petitions, there were a total of 2,309 receipts in FY2015 Q2, a drop of nearly 21% from the first quarter and a 9% decrease compared to this time last year.
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| I-526 Data (Q2 2014-Q2 2015) – To view the full I-526 report, click the link above. |
Regarding I-526 approvals, there were a total of 1,978, an increase of 20% from FY2015 Q1 and 38% year-over-year. This is encouraging showing the Immigrant Investor Program Office (IPO) is increasing its capacity to adjudicate cases.
Lastly, there were a total of 273 denials, an increase of 105% compared to Q1 but just a 6% increase year-over-year.
I-829 Petition Processing
For I-829 petitions, there were a total of 693 receipts in FY2015 Q2, an increase of 38% compared to 24 Q2 data and just a 14% decrease compared to first quarter data.
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I-829 Data (Q2 2014-Q2 2015) – To view the full I-526 report, click the link above.
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Regarding I-829 approvals, there were a total of 269, an increase of 290% from FY2015 Q1 and slight decrease of 9% year-over-year. Similar to I-526 processing, the IPO is clearly demonstrating its capacity to adjudicate higher volumes of petitions.
Lastly, there was denials, an increase of 105% compared to Q1 but just a 6% increase year-over-year.
Approval Rates
Approval rates have remained steady over the past quarter, with I-526 petitions being approved at 88% and I-829 petitions at 99%.
From FY2013-FY2014, I-526 petitions have been approve at average of 83%. Averaging the approval percentages of the first two quarters of this year, we see an approval rate of over 90%, well above historical averages.
Similarly, I-829 approval rates have outperformed recent data trends. Between FY2013-FY2015 Q1, I-829 petitions have been approve at average of 93.1%. It is encouraging to see approval rates at 100% and 99% in the last two quarters, respectively.
Petitions Pending
Despite the record-breaking numbers, there are still too many petitions pending before the IPO office. In Q2, there were a pending total of 13,663 I-526 petitions and 3,524 I-829 petitions. This represents an increase from Q1 of 1% for I-526 and 14% for I-829 petitions.
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I-526 Petitions Pending (Q2 2014-Q2 2015) – To view the full I-526 report, click the link above.
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