EB-5 Exemplar Project Approvals: What They Mean for Investors

Selecting the right EB-5 project is one of the most consequential decisions an investor will make in the immigration process. Among the factors that can significantly influence both the likelihood of petition approval and the speed of adjudication is whether the project has received an exemplar approval from USCIS. This designation, now formalized under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA) through Form I-956F, signals that USCIS has independently reviewed and approved the project's core elements before any individual investor files a petition. This article explains what exemplar approvals are, how the I-956F process works, what USCIS evaluates during its review, and why exemplar status matters for investors considering an EB-5 investment. ## What Is an Exemplar Approval? An exemplar approval (sometimes referred to as project pre-approval) is a determination by USCIS that the fundamental business and economic elements of an EB-5 project meet the requirements of the...