This article was previously published in the Regional Center Business Journal. The full version of the journal can be viewed in its entirety here. By: Joseph Barnett Time is of the essence, especially in EB-5 petition and application processing. Despite the Immigrant Investor Program Office’s (“IPO’s”) increase in staff and the re-organization of its adjudication teams for more efficient processing in recent years, EB-5 adjudications remain undeservedly long. According to USCIS’ September 3, 2018 website screenshot, it takes an average of about 20-26 months for I-526 adjudications, and 19.5 – 25.5 months for I-924 adjudications. One potential way to speed up EB-5 adjudications is to request “expedited processing” by USCIS. Is Expedited Processing for Soon-To-Be Backlogged Countries Helpful? Expedited processing is of particular interest these days for Indian, and some South Korean, and possibly for Taiwan and Brazilian nationals looking to receive Form I-526 approvals before the U.S. Department of State (“DOS”) imposes a Final Action Date (i.e. a Visa Bulletin cutoff date), which DOS has informally projected will occur by the Summer of 2019. There is a possibility that, through expedited processing, an EB-5 beneficiary could slide through to immigrant visa processing before a Final Action Date falls in FY 2019. Individuals […]