Lucid Professional Writing Blog
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Blog.lucidtext.com is the work of Suzanne Lazicki -- a business writer, EB-5 expert, and the owner of Lucid Professional Writing. Suzanne founded Lucid Professional Writing in 2009 and started the blog the following year as a way to keep her EB-5 clients informed about industry developments. The blog aims to provide material support for EB-5 plans and decisions and to promote the integrity of..
Lucid Professional Writing Blog
2w ago
While I rushed to help clients wrap up business plans before the April 1 USCIS fee increase, the government has also been admirably productive. This post recaps my “to report” list of new EB-5 data and new EB-5 guidance published over the past month and a half. USCIS publishes FY2024 Q1 Processing Data The USCIS ..read more
Lucid Professional Writing Blog
3w ago
Last week IIUSA sued USCIS over Q&A that interpret the two-year minimum investment sustainment period, disputing that the EB5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (“RIA”) actually changed the EB-5 sustainment requirement. Concurrently, IIUSA petitioned USCIS for rulemaking to write a minimum five-year investment holding period into the EB-5 regulations. This move is potentially extremely ..read more
Lucid Professional Writing Blog
1M ago
And finally, I get to report good news! The Investor Program Office seems to be turning a corner with petition processing. Official results aren’t out yet for months since September 2023, but preliminary data for recent pre-RIA I-526 and I-829 completions show the continuation of an encouraging trend. We’re hearing anecdotally about timely post-RIA I-526 ..read more
Lucid Professional Writing Blog
1M ago
A couple weeks ago AIIA published the results of a Freedom of Information Act request showing that as of the end of 2023, at least 1,093 rural investors and 2,185 high unemployment investors had filed EB-5 petitions with USCIS. (See the AIIA post for the data and link to an extensive webinar.) Now there’s the ..read more
Lucid Professional Writing Blog
1M ago
A couple weeks ago AIIA published the results of a Freedom of Information Act request showing that as of the end of 2023, at least 1,093 rural investors and 2,185 high unemployment investors had filed EB-5 petitions with USCIS. (See the AIIA post for the data and link to an extensive webinar.) Now there’s the ..read more
Lucid Professional Writing Blog
1M ago
The Department of State has published its Report of the Visa Office 2023, including the final tally of EB-5 visas issued by country through consular processing and adjustment of status in FY2023. The visa office report can be examined as an indicator of market interest in EB-5 visas, showing the countries of origin for EB-5 ..read more
Lucid Professional Writing Blog
1M ago
See “AIIA FOIA Series: Updated I-526E Inventory Statistics for 2023” (February 29, 2024) for another important update on pipeline demand for rural and high unemployment set-aside visas. I helped make the charts for this article, and encourage everyone concerned about potential backlogs and wait times to read the article, donate to AIIA (so they can ..read more
Lucid Professional Writing Blog
1M ago
Today the Federal Register published a Final Rule for USCIS filing fee changes scheduled to take effect on April 1, 2024. The Final Rule includes major increases to EB-5 form filing fees, which is a near-term gift for EB-5 marketing (“Hurry! File now before the fees go up!”), a challenge for service providers (as we ..read more
Lucid Professional Writing Blog
1M ago
USCIS has updated the Immigration and Citizenship Data page with reports for forms filed and processed through FY2023 Q4 (the year and quarter ending September 30, 2023). For EB-5 numbers, I look at All USCIS Application and Petition Form Types (Fiscal Year 2023, Quarter 4) (PDF, 183.88 KB), the California Service Center numbers at Application ..read more
Lucid Professional Writing Blog
1M ago
I just happened to notice that on December 21, USCIS made unannounced additions to the EB-5 Resources page. The section formerly titled EB-5 Questions and Answers (updated Oct. 2023) has been replaced by a different EB-5 Questions and Answers (updated Dec. 2023). A document comparison between the October and December versions shows that USCIS did ..read more