EB-5 Investment Green Card: AILA Urges USCIS to Expedite AOS Before Grandfathering Deadline

The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) has formally urged U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to prioritize the adjudication of EB-5 Adjustment of Status applications for investors who fall under the grandfathering provisions established by the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022. AILA's request comes as the deadline for grandfathered applicants to benefit from prior program rules approaches, creating urgency for thousands of pending petitioners. Under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, Congress restructured the investor visa program significantly, but included grandfathering protections for investors who had filed I-526 petitions under the old framework. These grandfathered applicants were promised continuity under the rules that applied when they originally invested, but lengthy USCIS processing backlogs have put many at risk of missing the cutoff to use those protections. AILA's advocacy highlights a systemic concern: if USCIS does not act swiftly to adjudicate these AOS applications, eligible investors may lose their grandfathered status through no fault of their own. The association is calling for dedicated processing tracks and prioritization mechanisms to ensure fairness for this cohort of applicants. While this development primarily concerns EB-5 investor visa holders, it signals broader USCIS capacity and backlog challenges that affect all employment-based green card categories, including EB-3. Delays and procedural bottlenecks in one visa category often reflect system-wide adjudication pressures that EB-3 applicants should monitor as they plan their own timelines.