What does it mean if there is no EB-5 exemplar project approval yet?

An exemplar approval means the project has a sample I-526 petition and project documents pre-approved by USCIS. A regional center can be approved with an exemplar project or with no project at all, in which case the first approved I-526 petition will allow deference to later-filed I-526 petitions.

It means the project has an approved regional center sponsoring it, but the project itself has not been reviewed/approved by USCIS as of that date.

An exemplar approval means a project has been approved and USCIS will give deference to project documents (unless modified) in reviewing individual I-526 petitions. So, it is safer. However, each individual I-526 petition has different source of funds component and, unless properly prepared by an experienced EB-5 immigration attorney, the I-526 petition may not necessarily be approved even if the project has an approved exemplar. Many projects do not seek exemplar approvals given current long processing times. If a project has several I-526 petitions approved, it is generally a good sign that the project documentation is approvable.

There is no requirement that there be an EB-5 exemplar project approved. Many regional centers will not seek to obtain an EB-5 exemplar approval given the fact that it takes a growing amount of time. What would be significant in such a case is that the EB-5 project have at least one or more EB-5 investors approved for the same project in which you may invest. The approval of one or more individual EB-5 petitions essentially serves the same purpose as having an exemplar approved.

That means that this specific project has not yet been reviewed by USCIS. Having a regional center approval does not guarantee that each project will receive an approval.

Regional centers may oversee/manage many EB-5 projects, and they file "exemplar" or sample petitions for each of the projects they oversee/manage. An exemplar petition is a "sample" EB-5 petition with the specifics of the project filed with the USCIS to obtain a sort of "preapproval" of the project to see if it meets the EB-5 standards.

There are two parts to a petition: template and source of funds. Having exemplar approval means they approved the project, so unless changed, it is safer. However, many good projects do not have exemplar approvals as they take about one year to process.

The project has not been reviewed by USCIS for legal sufficiency as to whether the business is likely to create the requisite number of jobs for I-526 approvals for the investors.

It means that the regional center is approved, but the investor has to send in their own I-526 with their immigration counsel. This is the norm anyway. Some projects have submitted a "sample" or exemplar I-526, which when approved, can be issued with the usual I-526 submittal documents.