Which department of the US Government oversees your EB5 Regional Center investment application

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

Under the Homeland Security Act of 2002, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) was transitioned into the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on March 1, 2003. All service and benefit functions of the INS, including responsibility for regulations governing the U.S. Immigrant Investor Pilot Program, were transferred to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which was established within DHS. In January 2005, USCIS established the Investor and Regional Center Unit (IRCU) to oversee and administer all aspects of the EB-5 investor visa category and the Pilot Program.

The USCIS is responsible for the administration of immigration and naturalization adjudication functions and establishing immigration services policies and priorities. USCIS allows the DHS to improve the administration of benefits and immigration services for applicants by exclusively focusing on immigration and citizenship services. Fifteen thousand (15,000) federal employees and contractors working in approximately 250 headquarters and field offices around the world comprise the USCIS.

The Roles that Different Government Agencies play in the Immigrant Investor’s Immigration Process

Responsibility for the functioning of the EB-5 regional center program (the official name for which is the Immigrant Investor Pilot Program) rests primarily with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which is an agency within the Department of Homeland Security. USCIS California Service Center processes and adjudicates applications for regional center designations and petitions from individual investors.

After an investor invests in a regional center program, he or she begins the immigration process by filing a petition with the USCIS California Service Center (CSC). The CSC evaluates whether the individual project at the designated regional center qualifies, particularly with regard to whether the job creation will occur within the two-year conditional permanent residence period. The CSC decides also whether the investor qualifies based on examining how the investor acquired the invested funds. If the CSC is satisfied both with the regional center’s project and with the legality of the investor’s funds, then it approves the I-526 petition.

Upon approval of the I-526 petition, if the investor resides outside of the U.S., he or she proceeds with the processing of an immigrant visa through the consulate in the person’s home country. The consulates are operated by the Department of State, as is the National Visa Center, which oversees the initial gathering of required documents, pertaining to establishing the identity of the investors and their immediate family members. Once the National Visa Center has gathered all of the necessary documents and application forms from the applicant, it forwards the case to the consulate for final processing.

If the investor and his or her family reside in the U.S. with a long-term nonimmigrant visa, then they may apply to the USCIS CSC for adjustment of status. The investor and his or her family submit the application forms and supporting evidence to CSC. The applicants submit to medical examinations and fingerprint- and name-based background checks of the FBI and CIA databases. During this process, the applicants obtain work a work authorization and a travel document that enables them to travel outside of the U.S.

It is important to note that permanent residence is conditionally issued for a two-year period.

During the final ninety days of the two-year conditional permanent residence, the investor submits to the USCIS CSC an I-829 petition to remove the condition from the permanent residence. The CSC examines this petition to determine primarily whether the regional center program achieved the projected job creation. The CSC also makes sure that the investor has not removed his or her investment from the regional center program, and that the investor and his or her family did not commit any crimes that would disqualify them from maintaining permanent resident status.

Once the CSC approves the I-829 petition, the investor receives a permanent resident card valid for 10 years. The investor may choose to remain a permanent residence, and apply for green card renewals as needed, or, after having maintained permanent residence for five years, the investor and his or her family members can apply to USCIS for citizenship.

For additional information regarding the U.S. immigrant investor program, please visit the