USCIS IT System Updates Result in Delayed I-829 Receipt Notices

We know that many of our AVS EB-5 Investors are concerned about recent news regarding delays in the issuing of I-829 receipt notices. I will explain what is going on in detail below, but I want to begin be reassuring everyone that this is not a delay in the actual processing of the I-829 petitions. The delay in issuing I-829 receipt notices COULD result in some of our investors having to be very careful about their travel timing, but we are hopeful that this is just an internal glitch at USCIS and will be resolved soon.

Here's what is happening:  the USCIS is updating it IT systems and for reasons they have not explained in any detail, this is causing a delay of at least 90 days in the issuing of receipt notices for all I-829 submitted.  The receipt notice is crucial in the process because it extends the Conditional Permanent Resident (CPR) status of the petitioner and family for one year from the expiration of the conditional green card, so the delay presents issues of proving legitimate status after the conditional residency has been filed but before receipt of the I-829 receipt confirming the one year extension. The official receipt notice is used as evidence by the petitioner and dependents to reenter the United States, among other things, when their conditional green cards expire.  This delay requires all petitioners filing I-829s over the next few months to pay CRITICAL attention to their travel in and out of the United States. 

Many parties involved have reached out to USCIS for guidance, and in their responses USCIS has indicated that the best course of action would be for petitioners to obtain an InfoPass appointment at their local office, meaning requesting an appointment to review their status and, in theory, allow petitioners to obtain an I-551 stamp in their passports, extending their CPR status for up to one year.  But that does not really help because an InfoPass appointment cannot be requested until 90 days after they have submitted their I-829. [If your I-829 was filed more than 90 days ago and you have not received your receipt notice, you can make an InfoPass appointment by visiting: https://my.uscis.gov/appointment.] 

Accordingly, the solution provided by USCIS does  nothing to address the delays...but for now it is the only option available after expiration of the CPR status.

This is what we recommend to our AVS investors: For those of you who are still preparing to file your I-829 petition, we recommend that you stay put in the United States and do not plan to leave the US until you have obtained your receipt notice in the mail. Staying in the US will avoid the possibility of getting stuck outside the country.

Also, we strongly advise that you file the I-829 Petition immediately when the filing window opens, which is 90 days before your CPR expires, with the hopes that USCIS will issue the receipt notice by or before day 90. If you absolutely must travel during that 90-day window, we recommend that you make plans to be back in the US at least 2 weeks before your CPR status expires.

We are hoping that USCIS will fix this issue soon without delays to any of our AVS EB-5 Investors. In the meantime, AVS is doing our part to make the process of actually compiling the documents and information required for an I-829 submission as seamless as possible, in order to make it as easy and fast as possible for your I-829 filing attorney. Our team has all the EB-5 Project documents your filing attorney will need to file the I-829 on your behalf, so as soon as the attorney begins the process of preparing your application our team will provide those immediately in order to expedite the process.

Laura Callava- AVS General Counsel

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