How long does it take to prepare the first part of the EB-5 application?

Preparation of each EB-5 case is unique. It is possible, depending upon your country of origin, your source of funds documentation, and which regional center you are investing in, to submit the I-526 within a few days. Therefore, it is possible that you could still meet the deadline. Currently, that deadline is Dec. 11, 2015, but it is likely the EB-5 regional center program will be extended, albeit with significant changes, including increasing the minimum investment amount. Keep in mind that the direct EB-5 law does not sunset/expire, but it will likely have the same increased investment amount when Congress makes the changes to the EB-5 requirements and the President signs them into law.

We are advising new investor clients to file their I-526 petitions before the end of September.

It really depends on your case and your ability to produce the evidence that we would need or recommend. A petition could be prepared in less than one month, so there could be time. If a case is filed, that is what we call prima facie eligible; then we should have the opportunity to address any deficiencies in a follow up Request for Evidence (called an RFE). To consider whether or not you could be ready to file, you should contact a qualified immigration attorney who specializes in EB-5 matters.

That would generally depend on the source of funds documentation in your specific case and how quickly you provide it to an attorney. The I-526 can be filed in as little time as two weeks if the source of funds is straightforward, and you have signed documents with a regional center and completed the transfer of investment funds to the project. This also assumes any foreign documents have been translated into English. Other more complex cases may take two to four months on average to prepare the case for filing.

The program will not expire, but what may happen is that the amount of investment may increase from $500,000 to $800,000. The initial preparation would include your personal information especially regarding the sources of your funds. If this can be prepared, then there are regional centers that have projects ongoing where they could probably include you within the next month.

It depends on the Source of Fund tracking of your situation. If SOF is relatively simple, and we get the business documents properly, filing has been done in as quickly as two weeks, but some other clients with complicated SOF or incomplete business documents have taken as long as three to four months. Normally, we strive to file within a month after you sign the subscription agreement, etc., and wire the investment funds to a project/business and that project's documents are provided to us.

This question can only be answered by your investment immigration attorney after he or she has reviewed your documentation. You should take action as soon as possible.

You may be cutting it close, but if you find an EB-5 project that you are ready to invest in, the EB-5 project has their project documentation and investor subscription documentation ready, and you are prepared to quickly provide the required source of funds documentation, it is possible to get your I-526 filed before the end of September.