EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program: Step 5 for International Students Applying for Investment Immigration – Approval of the Conditional Green Card
Step 5 for International Students Applying for Investment Immigration: Approval of the Conditional Green Card
Attorneys:Attorney Jeff Zhengquan Xie,Attorney Jiarui Yin,Attorney Qian Zhao,Attorney Haochun Ling, Xiang Xiao
After completing the first four steps of the EB-5 investment immigration application process—preparing the source-of-funds report, identifying a preferred investment project, finalizing the investment documents, and filing the immigration petition with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on behalf of the investor—the application moves to Step 5: obtaining the conditional green card.
This fifth step is often the longest waiting period in the entire investment immigration application process!
Among our firm’s EB-5 clients, the fastest approval for a conditional green card took seven months, while the longest wait stretched to a full decade!
Therefore, the timeline for completing this fifth step varies significantly from person to person, with no uniform standard. In other words, investors should avoid asking their immigration attorneys exactly how long it will take to receive the conditional green card after making the investment.
If the EB-5 applicant resides overseas, USCIS will forward the approval notice to the National Visa Center (NVC). Once the immigration attorney submits all required documents to the NVC, the center will transfer the applicant’s file to the relevant U.S. consulate or embassy abroad, where the applicant will await a visa interview appointment.
The consulate typically sends the applicant a visa interview notice 30 days in advance. Upon passing the interview, a visa stamp will be affixed to the applicant’s passport. The applicant must then travel to the U.S. within six months using the valid passport, and submit the visa packet issued by the consulate to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) upon arrival.
Approximately 2–4 weeks after the applicant and their family members enter the U.S., they will receive the physical green card printed by USCIS. In many cases, USCIS mails the green card directly to the office of the applicant’s immigration attorney.
If the applicant filed Form I-485 (Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status) while residing in the U.S., USCIS will mail the Permanent Resident Card (Green Card) directly to the applicant’s U.S. residential address after approving their Form I-485 petition.
This green card bears a two-year validity period. In other words, the green card issued through EB-5 investment is a conditional green card valid for two years.
Although this green card is only valid for two years, as long as the investment project remains in normal operation, there is generally no obstacle to obtaining a permanent green card.
However, during these two years, the cardholder should not leave the U.S. for a single trip exceeding six months, nor should they accept any refund of the EB-5 investment principal from the project sponsor.
Within 90 days before the two-year validity period expires, the cardholder must contact their immigration attorney to initiate the process of preparing and filing the application to remove the conditions on the green card and convert it to a permanent one.
The above overview is prepared by XIE LAW OFFICES,LLC. to provide legal information to the Chinese community. It is primarily for academic discussion purposes and does not constitute legal advice on specific cases. If you already have legal representation, please consult your own attorney, who is familiar with the details of your case. Clients of Xie & Associates Law Firm, as well as readers who have not yet retained legal counsel, may contact Attorney Xie for specific legal questions. If you wish to reprint this document, please do so in full without any deletions, and clearly indicate the source.
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