In FY2015, more than 8,700 I-526 petitions were approved by USCIS, accounting for over $4.378 billion in FDI. With a 77.8% increase from the last year, FY2015 is the first year that the Program has shown its capacity to attract over $1 billion in capital investment per quarter, catalyzing local economic develop-ment across the U.S. That is almost $12 million in FDI every single day in FY2015. Since the
Great Recession, the Program has blossomed from $3.2 million in FY2008 to over $4.3 billion in FY2015, experiencing over 1,260% growth and attracting a total of over $13.05 billion in capital investment to the U.S in the past seven years.
the Program. This increased I-526 approval rate not only indicates the Program is attracting an increasing amount of qualified foreign investors who are investing an approved jobcreating business in U.S., but also implies that the EB-5 industry, in general, has become more in-tune with USCIS’s EB-5 adjudication requirements, resulting in enhanced efficiency throughout the process.
As Figure 2 shows, the average I-526 approval rate in FY2015 is over 89%, which is the highest level since the establishment of
HISTORICAL HIGH IN I-526 RECEIPTS AND PENDING 3: I-526 PETITIONS - RECEIPTS V. COMPLETIONS* (FY2008-FY2015) FigureFIGURE 3: I‐526 Petitions ‐ Receipts v. Completions* (FY2008 ‐ FY2015) Total Receipts
16,000
14,373
I‐526 Receipts in FY2015: I‐526 Receipts:
Growth from FY2008 to FY2015:
I‐526 Receipts:
14,000
1,042.53%
12,000
Total Completion
I‐526 Completion in FY2015: I‐526 Compl
9,807
I‐526 Completions:
10,000
1,187.01%
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
* I‐526 Completion: Number of I‐526 petitions that have been adjudicated by USCIS (either approved or denied) IIUSA Data Report Figure 4: I‐526 Petitions ‐ Pendings (FY2008 ‐ Source: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
FY2015) FIGURE 4: I-526 PETITIONS - PENDING (FY2008-FY2015) 197.5% 118.9%
20,000
I‐526 Pending growth rate
0% growth
49.9%
42.1%
‐39.7% I‐526 Pendings in FY2015:
74.6%
39.5%
100.0%
‐100.0%
17,367
Rrepresents over
15,000
$8.68 billion
‐300.0%
in
12,453
EB‐5 FDI pending, an increase of
‐500.0%
1,935%
since 2008
10,000
‐700.0%
7,131 ‐900.0%
5,018
5,000
3,347 ‐1100.0%
853
514
1,125
0
‐1300.0%
2008
2009
2010
IIUSA Data Report Source: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
2011
2012
2013
* I-526 Completion: Number of I-526 petitions that have been adjudicated by USCIS (either approved or denied) | Source: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
VOL. 3, ISSUE #4, JANUARY 2016
2014
2015
CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE >> IIUSA.ORG | 27
Education/research
SIX DATA POINTS SHOW EB-5 HAS NEVER BEEN STRONGER