USCIS recently published (and subsequently removed) a set of documents listing approved and denied Forms I-526 and Forms I-829 by regional center. Unfortunately, USCIS did not provide the context and clarity necessary to differentiate a number of critical elements. CMB believes the published numbers were an attempt by the USCIS for clarity within the industry, however, it is essential to not only provide accurate information (which can be found below) but to also seek clarity from USCIS as to their methodology and data sources.
The USCIS reports acknowledge that petitions are denied for various reasons including those not related to the project. The reports also state that USCIS makes no claims to completeness, timeliness or accuracy of the information provided. What is most lacking, however, is that they have provided no clarification on what constitutes a denial.
As a leading regional center with decades of experience, we have worked with investors whose experiences don’t fit the approved/denied mold. I would encourage USCIS to consider the following circumstances (among many others) and provide the necessary clarity:
How does USCIS consider a petition that is withdrawn prior to adjudication?
What happens if a petitioner passes away prior to adjudication?
How is an adjudication recorded on an individual who fails their interview or biometric screening?
What if a petitioner never files their I-829 and moves back to their home country?
What if a denial is later overturned by the Administrative Appeals Office?
What if an approval is later revoked?
Although USCIS has provided the industry with much appreciated data, they now must provide the clarity and context necessary to interpret the data. Further, I would encourage USCIS to separate out project-related denials and petitioner-related denials.
In CMB’s history, we have never had a single project-related denial at either the I-526 or the I-829 stage of adjudication. We have had investors receive denials at the I-526 for a wide variety of reasons, but never related to the underlying project. Regrettably, after over 600 approved I-829s without a single request for evidence, we have had one investor denied at the I-829 stage for non-project-related reasons, but they are actively appealing the decision.
CMB will be reporting what we see as inaccurate information to USCIS, but we recognize the importance in also disseminating the information to our network of agencies, clients, attorneys and prospective clients. Below you will find charts of the approvals and denials of individual petitioners participating in an EB-5 limited partnerships in our various regional centers. Included in this list is Liberty Nebraska Regional Center, which has been changed to CMB Nebraska Regional Center.