How can an employee of an EB-5 project track the USCIS approval process?

This depends on the terms of how the project offers documentation, which may provide that funds will be held in escrow until I-526 approval and then released. Generally, each EB-5 investor will receive his or her case receipt notice with a specific case number that can be checked online at uscis.gov regarding the case status. Projects commonly require the attorneys of EB-5 investors to email a copy of the receipt notice to them, so they can track status online. A project may or may not be subject to confidentiality rules not to disclose such notices to you.

The EB-5 project as an EB-5 regional center project can file an application with the USCIS to request pre-approval of the EB-5 actual project. Inquiries can be made as to the progress of the USCIS adjudication process.

If you what you are saying is that the EB-5 investors invested capital release is conditioned on I-526 Petition approval, then, if you can obtain the I-526 Petition filing receipt number you can track the status online.

Each individual filing with USCIS is tracked through the filing receipt number. This is usually sent to the filer of the particular application. Otherwise, you can only check online to determine the filed dates on which the Government is currently working.

Unfortunately, as a third-party, I am afraid there are no discernible means to track the EB-5 USCIS approval process. First, the information per petition is protected by the right of privacy and an infraction by any means is not advisable. Second, if at all you get wind of the progress regarding the petitions, the overall aggregated report will not help the non-payment issue between you and your client. Advisably, deal with this issue within the provisions of your contract with your client.

Whether and when the funds can be released depends on the terms of the project documents and escrow. It is possible that funds can only be released upon approval by USCIS; although, that is less common. USCIS likes to see the funds fully “at-risk;” that way, they contribute to job creation.

You can track the I-526 approvals only if you have case-specific receipt numbers. You can input the I-526 petition receipt numbers at the USCIS website to track petition approvals. You probably cannot track any other type of approval related to EB-5.