On May 31st, 2016 USCIS released official statistics on current I-526 and I-829 processing through March, 2016 (Q2 of FY2016).
I-526 Petition Trends
The most recent quarter (Q2 FY2016) showed a substantial decrease in new I-526 filings due to the extraordinarily high number of filings in the previous two quarters. I-526 filings spiked at the end of 2015 due to proposed regulatory changes that did not go into effect when Congress renewed the EB-5 program on September 30th, 2015. The data also help illustrate that increases in USCIS adjudicator personnel appear to be making an impact on I-526 processing as the number of processed I-526 Petitions increased ~50% from Q1 FY2016 to Q2 FY2016.
I-829 Petition Trends
I-829 Petitions for Q2 FY2016 decreased over the past quarter to 421 approved I-829 petitions with only a small percentage of denials, approximately 5%. Receipts of new I-829 petitions appear to have stabilized at approximately 800 I-829 petitions per quarter and we do not expect this trend to change in the near future.
Pending I-526 Petitions
The latest I-526 data shows that the number of currently pending I-526 Petitions stands at 20,235 – a decrease of almost 10% over the last quarter. Looking back over the past 7 most recent quarters, there is an 8.4% CAGR of new I-526 Petitions pending with USCIS, a trend that we expect to continue as the number of new I-526 Petitions picks up in the second half of 2016.
Pending I-829 Petitions
The latest I-829 data shows that the number of currently pending I-829 Petitions stands at 4,712 – an increase of almost 10% over the last quarter. Looking back over the past 7 most recent quarters, there is a 14.6% CAGR of newly pending I-829 Petitions pending with USCIS, a trend that we expect to continue as the number of newly filed I-829 Petitions continues in the second half of 2016.
