What happens after the EB-5 investor files the I-829 petition?

Once you file the I-829 petition, you will receive a receipt in a few weeks. With the receipt you can travel to other countries and can legally return to the United States as a pending immigrant.

A receipt should be issued in 10-14 days. You remain a conditional resident until a determination. If approved, you are a full, lawful permanent resident. If you are denied, you will actually have to leave the United States, as you will no longer have legal status in the United States.

If you are filing on time and not late filing, a receipt is generally issued in about 14 days on average and your status is extended for one year. You may get a stamp at a local USCIS office in your foreign passport. Your attorney should be able to assist with that.

Upon filing the I-829 petition, it usually takes one to two weeks to get the receipt notice in the mail. Almost invariably, one or more receipt notices will not be issued (the notices for dependents are called ''Verification of Inclusion of Dependent''). Usually, an email to the USCIS - Investor Program Office will straighten this out. The receipt notice, on its face, extends the green card/conditional status for one year, while the I-829 petition is pending. Then, after a couple more weeks, the USCIS will issue biometrics notices for the applicants over 14 in the I-829 petition. The current average processing time for an I-829 petition is 15 months. As long as the I-829 petition is pending, you remain a conditional lawful permanent resident, and you are entitled to work and travel in the status.

You will receive a notice within two weeks after you file the I-829, and your conditional permanent resident status will be extended one more year after filing of the I-829. However, the current processing time for the I-829 is over a year, so you will need to go to the local USCIS office before the one-year extension period expires to get your passport stamped in order to maintain your status.

The time varies; it could be six months and you would have no status until the approval of the removal of conditions.

By filing, your green card is automatically extended by one year. Unfortunately, these applications are presently backlogged over one year, but your lawyer can get the green card temporarily extended easily.

Once you file the I-829, a receipt is generated in the first few weeks. This receipt extends your PR status for another year. If the I-829 is not decided by then, you can continue to get passport stamps evidencing your continued status during the whole time the I-829 is pending (often 15+ months).

USCIS takes one to two weeks to issue a receipt notice after filing any petition or applications. When your I-829 is filed, you will get a receipt notice that states that your conditional residency is extended for a one-year period. This gives you a continuation of your green card status and you are still the holder of a conditional green card. As USCIS is taking almost 15 months to process the I-829 applications these days, after the one-year period is done, you need to go to the local USCIS office and get your passport stamped, again showing that your conditional green card status remains intact, for the duration of the I-829 pendency in USCIS.