After I filed my EB-5 petition in November last year, I received an RFE request, which I submitted in January. I have regularly followed up by making service requests. The only answers I have received over the past months are, “We apologize for the delay,” etc. Is it normal for the USCIS to take this long to review an RFE they requested?
Answers

Lynne Feldman
EB-5 Immigration attorneysYou can have a Congressperson check for you if outside normal processing times, file a Federal mandamus action, continue to wait and inquire regularly.

Tony W. Wong
EB-5 Immigration attorneysThe time to process your response to the RFE depends on many factors such as the adjudicating officer's efficiency and maybe background check. It normally takes about six to nine months, maybe longer, to receive a decision on your petition. Sometimes, the officer may issue another RFE or Notice of Intent to Deny asking for more documents.

Salvatore Picataggio
EB-5 Immigration attorneysThat is, unfortunately, the common response from USCIS even a year after responding to an RFE. Keep making inquiries. Best of luck.

A Olusanjo Omoniyi
EB-5 Immigration attorneysThis simply means that your petition is still being evaluated. This instance may include investigation of answers and documents provided in response to the RFE. Finally, it is not unusual that the re-evaluation of a case like this may take in what may appear to be exceedingly long time.

Julia Roussinova
EB-5 Immigration attorneysOn average, it takes USCIS several weeks to several months to respond to an RFE. It depends on how well the RFE has addressed all issues raised by USCIS in reviewing your I-526. Your attorney should make an inquiry with the EB-5 unit. It is possible to have another RFE issued, notice of intent to deny, or notice of approval.

Lynne Feldman
EB-5 Immigration attorneysThe case goes back to the adjudicator to evaluate and you can email the EB-5 address for status updates.

Charles Foster
EB-5 Immigration attorneysThe simple answer is it is taking U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) longer to adjudicate EB-5 investor petitions on Form I-526 as well as to respond after responses to RFEs are filed. What happens at the USCIS after an RFE response is submitted is that your response is simply in a cue waiting for it to be reached by the CIS Examiner to which the particular case has been assigned. They are likely working on responses that were filed months before yours.

BoBi Ahn
EB-5 Immigration attorneysAfter the RFE response is submitted, the adjudicating officer of the case reviews the additional evidence and response submitted. Upon consideration, a final decision will be made. I have seen USCIS take as short as a week, to six months after submitting a response to make its final decision. If you do not receive a response within three months after response, you should have your attorney enquire by phone.

Mark Zeller
EB-5 Immigration attorneysYes - after the information is received, it is reviewed by the officer. One of the issues in your case may be the quality of the response to their request. Did an attorney prepare this for you?

Jinhee Wilde
EB-5 Immigration attorneysThere is no limit on how long USCIS takes to review your case after the RFE. Since the normal processing time for the I-526 petition is more than 17 months, they could take that much time again to review as technically your petition was not complete because they had to ask for more documents. Your attorney should be asking for updates every two months, stating that the case is beyond normal processing time, and escalate it if needed.

Bernard P Wolfsdorf
EB-5 Immigration attorneysUSCIS will ordinarily approve within 6-7 months of submitting an RFE response. It appears they may not be happy with your response so they could be investigating, or they may issue another RFE, or a Notice of Intention to Deny. Less likely, but possible, is a straight denial or straight approval.
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