Questions and Answers > EB-5 Investments

What will happen with my I-829 approval if the jobs created in my EB-5 project are not enough for all investors?

My I-829 application is pending and I got my receipt in Feb 2022, but my project (a hotel project) has been delayed from beginning of 2020 due to the pandemic, and the jobs were created but not enough for all investors right now. I know that there are many investors who invested in the same project that have already submitted their I-829 before my case. So, what happen if the hotel project is delayed because of the pandemic, and the jobs that were created are not enough for all investors?

Answers

• Julia Roussinova

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on March 2, 2022

  You will need to demonstrate the requisite jobs are already created or will be created within reasonable time at the I-829 filing stage. COVID-19 delays may fall within the "force majeure" circumstances and may be argued as legitimate reason for delays with job creation. Your underlying subscription documents should outline how jobs are allocated per investor. Your Regional Center should be able to answer that question. Generally, whoever filed first is counted toward job creation allocation.

• Lynne Feldman

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on February 28, 2022

  Most projects will allocate the jobs created in the order of the I-829 or I-526 filings. Check with the project and see where you are in the queue to have jobs allocated.

• Bernard P Wolfsdorf

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on February 23, 2022

  We are not yet sure how USCIS will react but if there are legitimate reasons such as Covid, and you can prove this caused the delay, they may allow an exception under the "act of God" legal principal. This would apply to natural hazards outside human control, such as an earthquake or tsunami or Covid for which no person can be held responsible. The case will turn on the actual facts and where you are in line unless there is an agreement to allocate jobs USCIS will ordinarily allocate based on a first in line basis.

• Belma Demirovic Chinchoy

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on February 22, 2022

  You will get an RFE to demonstrate sufficient job creation within a "reasonable timeframe." You will need to demonstrate sufficient job creation for yourself, otherwise the I-829 cannot be approved.

• Robert V Cornish Jr

  Securities Attorney

  Answered on February 22, 2022

  It is first come, first serve when it comes to the job count. The jobs are allocated to those who have filed first, and then to the next person and so on until there are no more units of 10 to assign to investors. At the very least, confirm where you are in the line with the Regional Center.