subject: Be Prepared For Delays When Applying For the Investment Immigration Visa [print this page] Be Prepared For Delays When Applying For the Investment Immigration Visa
In a perfect world, your investment immigration application, known as the eb5 visa, would be immediately accepted. You could then focus solely on moving to the United States with your family at your earliest convenience. Unfortunately, this is typically not the case, and the timing does not always work out perfectly. Find out some of the common time frames to expect from the investment immigration process, as well as some reasons for possible delays.
Most immigration lawyers that are knowledgeable about the eb5 visa process have an idea of how long it should take. Hopefully you are using an experienced lawyer, who should tell you to apply as early as possible. Obviously, the earlier you apply, the sooner you will be able to start moving and settling down in your new home. The rule of thumb is typically to apply about a year and a half before you are ready to move. While many applications are considered and either accepted or denied within about three months, you should always leave room for error.
Many immigrants wish to move as soon as possible, but some have preferences that should be considered when applying. For example, if you are moving to or from a hot area, moving while the weather is the hottest is not the best idea. Snow or heavy rain could also put a damper on your moving day. While of course you cannot always avoid such issues ahead of time, planning is helpful. If you do not want to move around the holidays, you should put in your investment immigration application around the winter of the previous year so that you are moving in the summer. If you want to move before the school year starts, try to apply around early spring of the year before you want to move so that you can get settled in before fall.
Your application will not necessarily take a year and a half to be approved, but it is best to be prepared since it is often out of your control. If it does not take that long, you can either simply move early or wait until your preferred time to move. Unfortunately, sometimes no matter how thoroughly you filled out your application, there will be an issue.
Common delays include receiving a request for additional evidence, or RFE. Getting the information you need, sending it in, and then having it considered again could take another three months. Occasionally, the request is unnecessary since you actually did send everything in, but the examiner did not see or understand it all. In any case, all you can do is keep in contact with both your lawyer and the case examiner to make sure you have done everything correctly on your end. Of course, not delaying filing your application for the investment immigration visa leaves plenty of room for this kind of issue.
