U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) recently clarified how the Immigrant Investor Program Office (IPO) will manage and assign EB-5 investor petitions following the changes introduced by the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA). The updated case management approach is scheduled to take effect on March 30, 2026, and will impact both Form I-526 (Standalone Investor) and Form I-526E (Regional Center Investor) petitions.
For investors considering the EB-5 program, this update provides important insight into how petitions will be prioritized and processed moving forward.
A Modified First-In, First-Out (FIFO) System
Under the new approach, USCIS will generally assign EB-5 petitions for adjudication using a first-in, first-out (FIFO) framework while also incorporating the statutory priorities established under the RIA.
In practical terms, this means:
· Petitions will typically be reviewed based on filing date, but
· Certain categories—particularly rural investments—will receive priority assignment.
This approach is designed to balance fairness in processing order while also ensuring the program aligns with Congress’s economic development goals.
Project Approval and Investor Petition Timing
Under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, projects participating in the Regional Center Program submit Form I-956F to USCIS for approval of the investment offering. This filing establishes the project’s eligibility under the EB-5 program framework. A key feature of the RIA framework is the requirement that the project itself must be approved before investor petitions can move forward.
Once the project application is filed, investors may proceed with their Form I-526E petitions, and those petitions will be assigned for adjudication after USCIS completes its review of the project filing.
This process is a standard part of the modern EB-5 program and reflects USCIS’s efforts to ensure transparency and compliance across all regional center offerings.
Continued Priority for Rural Projects
The RIA also established visa set-asides for specific investment categories and directed USCIS to prioritize certain projects.
Each year, the EB-5 visa allocation reserves:
· 20% for rural investments
· 10% for high-unemployment area investments
· 2% for infrastructure projects
Because of this structure, rural projects will continue to receive priority in both petition assignment and visa availability, making them particularly attractive for many investors.
Sub-Queues to Improve Visa Allocation Efficiency
USCIS has also indicated that it may organize petitions into sub-queues based on visa category.
This allows the agency to ensure that reserved visa categories are fully utilized. Without this system, petitions filed earlier but in oversubscribed categories could delay cases where visas are immediately available.
Sub-queues may include categories such as:
· Rural EB-5 investments
· High-unemployment area projects
· Infrastructure projects
· Unreserved EB-5 visa categories
Within each category, petitions would still be processed according to filing date.
What This Means for EB-5 Investors
These updates reinforce several important realities of the modern EB-5 program:
· Rural investments continue to benefit from priority processing and visa set-asides.
· Strategic project selection is more important than ever.
· Project approval timing matters.
At FirstPathway Partners, we closely monitor USCIS policy developments to help investors understand how regulatory changes may impact their immigration and investment strategies.
If you would like to learn more about current EB-5 opportunities or how these updates may affect your plans, our team is available to help guide you through the process. Contact us here: info@firstpathway.com