What are common reasons for delays or rejection of EB-5 applications?

Delays are commonly due to lack of documentation. Typically, an RFE is issued by USCIS for further documents to be submitted. Rejections are often due to insufficient evidence or lack of compliance with EB-5 regulations. The foreign investor is not required to be fluent in English.

The common reasons for delays are not enough USCIS adjudicators, unclear source of funds, unclear amount of funds invested, or simply documents that are not in compliance with USCIS requirements. Knowing English, however, is not a requirement, and there is no test for that.

There are several reasons that can cause delays or rejection such as: 1) whether the investment funds are enough or not; 2) the lawfulness of the investment funds, and 3) the issue of whether the investment can create 10 full-time jobs or not. Besides the investment-related issues, an applicant''s criminal convictions may result in denial of entry into the United States. Thus, meeting the basic EB-5 requirements is not a guarantee that an applicant will be issued a visa to enter the United States. All these issues must be fully addressed and documented, otherwise USCIS will either delay or reject the application, as it will request an applicant to submit additional evidence in support of the application. In addition, one fact that is very important is that an applicant must not misrepresent any fact, which can certainly cause rejection. Fluency in English language is neither required nor important to an application. Also, there are no tests for either EB-5 application or for language. Consult an EB-5 attorney before proceeding further.

EB-5 petitions are delayed because of not enough experienced USCIS adjudicators processing the petitions. A common reason for rejection is that the petitions and the supporting documentation are not compliant with the USCIS regulations and policies. To become an EB-5 conditional permanent resident, you do not have to know English.

Typically, an application that has not been well documented will be delayed. The USCIS typically requests further evidence and if the required evidence is not provided, or not received on time, then the case will be denied. Knowledge of English on the part of the investor is not required.

I-526 petitions may be delayed due to the complexity of the source of funds or project structure, or just the USCIS backlog. Denials can be for the project documentation or issues with the authentication of source of funds. Applications for the green card (after I-526 approval) could be for issues specific to the applicant (such as criminal background or unauthorized entries into the United States). Knowing English is not required at this time, but would be for citizenship.

The source of income, amount of investment, and investment at risk are the most common reasons for delays and denials. English proficiency is not that important for beneficiary. There are no tests of any kind.

There are many reasons for delays. USCIS may be having problems with the business side of the document, particularly if the project will spur economic growth and create jobs. They could be asking if the business is truly in a targeted employment area if that was the basis for investing only $500,000. They also could be asking if the job creation methodology is proper and calculations accurate. Also on the investor''s side, if the source of funds tracking is not done correctly, the USCIS officer may be trying to review every little documents to sort through how the money was procured. In a review of an I-526, reviewing the supporting documents that were submitted with the petition is what takes a long time, as the documents are voluminous, about six inches high. If the petitions were not prepared so that USCIS could easily review, it will take longer.

If you are asking about the I-526 , the common causes for the delay are generally a review of the documents provided, especially the source of funds, but the beyond that there is generally a backlog in the processing due to lack of personnel within the department. There is no requirement per se to have a grasp of the English language.

An EB-5 applicant does not need to speak English. This is one of the benefits of investing through the EB-5 visa program. There are no education or language requirements. Reasons for rejection of I-526 petitions include not providing the required information, providing misleading or false information, or not showing proper source of funds. It is common for USCIS to issue a request for evidence (RFE) before issuing any denials.