Questions & Answers

Why is my I-526 still pending after 37 months?

My EB-5 case was filled on April 4, 2016. It has been more than 37 months, but I have not received any notice regarding the adjudication result. I have been filing E-Inquiries every 60 days since last year, but no useful information is given. What should I do to bring their attention to my case?

Answers

• Fredrick W Voigtmann

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on May 17, 2019

  If your EB-5 investment is in a regional center, they should be able to provide you with a general update about other I-526 petitions filed in your project. If there is an issue with the regional center or the project, you should be informed about what the issues are and what steps are being taken to address those issues. If yours is a direct EB-5 case, then you are stuck with either making inquiries and waiting, or suing the USCIS in federal district court due to the unreasonable delay. You could also contact a local congressional liaison to check on the petition with USCIS on your behalf, especially if your business will create employment in that representative's congressional district.

• Charles Foster

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on May 15, 2019

  It's hard to tell why an EB-5 petition is still pending for such a lengthy period of time. Your attorney should follow up with USCIS, and if unable to get a satisfactory answer, you could also have the appropriate senator and/or congressman in the district where the project is located, make an appropriate congressional inquiry. If that fails, you could always file a writ of mandamus in U.S. District Court, but it could simply result in a faster decision, which may be a denial.

• Julia Roussinova

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on May 13, 2019

  You may want to seek congressional inquiry assistance, contact the ombudsman for inquiry assistance, or discuss filing a mandamus action in federal court with your attorney if the first two options do not produce result.

• Lynne Feldman

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on May 13, 2019

  Try your congressperson or email for that section.

• Bernard P Wolfsdorf

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on May 13, 2019

  If the case is approvable, then the only other option is to file a federal district court mandamus legal action to compel adjudication.

• Barbara Suri

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on May 13, 2019

  Perhaps you are from one of those countries that has an abundance of applications.

• Marko Issever

  EB-5 Broker Dealer

  Answered on May 13, 2019

  I feel for your frustration. That is quite a long time for a response indeed. Your attorney could file a mandamus. This will most likely force a decision. Unfortunately, it will not necessarily be a favorable decision, but at least you will no longer be in this indecisive period. You could also arrange an InfoPass meeting with USCIS. This would of course be the less aggressive approach. If it does not yield any results, then you could go to the mandamus route.

• Vaughan de Kirby

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on May 10, 2019

  Consult with your investment immigration attorney and explore the alternative of a writ to force USCIS to respond.

• Blake Harrison

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on May 10, 2019

  A writ of mandamus could be filed to address this issue.

• Belma Chinchoy

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on May 10, 2019

  Start preparing a mandamus filing, but try the ombud's office.

• A Olusanjo Omoniyi

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on May 10, 2019

  This is rather unusual and your attorney should explore all avenues to get to the bottom of this. What has been the explanation of your e-inquiries? Advisably, consider an InfoPass meeting with the USCIS where you can get a face-to-face discussion with the USCIS official(s).

• Mark AM Catam, Esq

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on May 10, 2019

  An option is to file mandamus.

• Salvatore Picataggio

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on May 10, 2019

  Other than doing what you're already doing, you can try a mandamus action (sue the government!) to force USCIS to make a decision. Now, that decision they will be compelled to make may or may not be an approval. Also, I have seen groups of investors from the same project file a joint action to get all of their out of processing time cases looked at, so check with your project to see if there are others in your situation. There may also be a project-side RFE pending, or perhaps USCIS is just waiting for more or all of the I-526s to be filed so they can adjudicate everything at once.

• Hassan Elkhalil

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on May 10, 2019

  According to the USCIS website, the processing time for the I-526 is 22-28.5 months. I think you need to speak with your attorney to discuss the possibility of filing a mandamus suit against the USCIS.