Seven Indian investors sue USCIS for denying EB-5 petitions without notice, citing violations of the 2022 EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act.
In a federal court case, a group of Indian nationals is suing the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), claiming that the agency is denying their EB-5 green card petitions without observing the requirements under the 2022 EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act. Seven plaintiffs invested 800,000 dollars each in a regional center based in Texas to fund job-creating projects and filed Form I-526 applications thereafter.
The investors allege that USCIS did not notify them that the regional center was noncompliant and out of designation. They claim that this was against legal safeguards put in place to cover the back of good-faith investors if a regional centre defaulted or was terminated. The complaint stated that the USCIS was supposed to terminate the regional center within 90 days of a non-compliance notice and inform the investors so that they could refund their money without facing a penalty.
Investors Say They Received No Notice or Opportunity to Respond
The association accuses them of following all the rules of the EB-5 program and filing petitions as early as 2019. In 2023, it was suggested that the Dallas regional center did not file required reports and pay fees. Under the EB-5 Reform Act, such a failure should have given a due response to USCIS, which should have contacted the concerned investors directly.
The plaintiffs, instead, claim that the agency postponed imposing the burden for more than a year. The investors also claim that they have never received a word regarding the termination of the regional center and were not provided with an opportunity to fix their investment or submit additional documentation. They were denied petitions without any warning.
This week, the lawsuit was filed to impartially direct the USCIS to reprocess the denied cases and issue the official notices according to the law’s order. It also challenges the court to determine that the agency’s actions were against the Administrative Procedure Act, which guides the actions of federal agencies.
Potential Impact on Broader EB-5 Investor Community
The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program is one in which foreign nationals who invest at least $800,000 $ within certain areas are entitled to permanent residency in the United States and meet the minimum requirement of 10 full-time jobs. The program has seen an increased use by Indian nationals because of the backlogs in other categories of the green card.
According to legal experts, this case might impact how USCIS exercises the same practices with EB-5 cases in the future. If the court is on the plaintiffs’ side, it can create a rule that will allow the agency to be more committed to the measures introduced in the 2022 reform law that will protect the investors.
