Forms
Form I-956F
Also called I-956F, I956F, Application for Approval of an Investment in a Commercial Enterprise.
Form I-956F, Application for Approval of an Investment in a Commercial Enterprise, is the application a designated regional center must file for each particular investment offering before any investor may petition on that offering.
What it decides
Its filing, not its approval, is what unlocks the investor's petition. 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(F)(i) requires a regional center to file the application for each particular investment offering through an associated new commercial enterprise before any alien petitions on that offering, and 8 U.S.C. 1154(a)(1)(H)(i) lets a regional center investor file a petition once the regional center has filed that application. So the investor may lodge Form I-526E while the I-956F is still pending and take a priority date then. Waiting for the approval costs queue position and gains nothing at the filing stage. That does not make the approval idle: USCIS makes no final decision on the I-526E until it decides the project application, and 8 U.S.C. 1154(a)(1)(H)(ii) fixes eligibility as of the filing date subject to approval of the associated I-956F. Once approved, the application binds the adjudication of petitions by investors in that same offering, including petitions already pending, and their Form I-829 petitions under 8 U.S.C. 1186b, unless the applicant engaged in fraud, misrepresentation or criminal misuse; the approval would threaten public safety or national security; there has been a material change that affects eligibility; other evidence affecting program eligibility was not disclosed during the adjudication; or the previous adjudication involved a material mistake of law or fact, 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(F)(ii). Only an approved regional center may file. The fee is $17,795 on Form G-1055 edition 05/29/26, with no Integrity Fund charge attached, that $1,000 riding on an initial I-526E instead.
Where this is explained properly
Pages here that go into form i-956f rather than mentioning it.
Related terms
- Form I-956Form I-956, Application for Regional Center Designation, is the application an economic unit files to be designated by USCIS as an EB-5 regional center under INA 203(b)(5)(E), or to amend a designation it already holds.
- Form I-956HForm I-956H, Bona Fides of Persons Involved with Regional Center Program, is the background attestation that each person involved with a regional center, a new commercial enterprise or an affiliated job-creating entity must complete and file as a distinct submission alongside Form I-956 or Form I-956F.
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