Process and timing

Interview

Also called personal interview, I-829 interview, consular interview.

An interview is a required personal appearance before a government officer, and an EB-5 case can involve up to three: the immigrant visa interview at a consulate, the adjustment of status interview, and the interview 8 U.S.C. 1186b requires before conditions come off residence, which USCIS may waive.

What it decides

Three different interviews can arise. 22 CFR 42.62 requires every immigrant visa applicant to appear personally before a consular officer and be interviewed, and only the appearance of a child under 14 may be waived. 8 CFR 245.6 requires an interview of every adjustment applicant unless USCIS decides one is unnecessary. The third is statutory: 8 U.S.C. 1186b(c)(1)(B) and (d)(3)(A) put the removal of conditions interview within 90 days of filing the I-829, at a local office convenient to the parties. Under (d)(3)(B) USCIS may waive the deadline or the interview itself on criteria it develops with its Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate and with ICE, criteria that may not include reducing processing times or saving adjudicatory resources, and no waiver is available where the investor invested in a regional center, new commercial enterprise or job creating entity sanctioned under 1153(b)(5), or is in a class the Secretary treats as a public safety or national security threat. Failing to appear without good cause terminates status as of the second anniversary and brings a notice to appear, though a written request may still get the interview rescheduled or waived.

Governed by 8 U.S.C. 1186b(c)(1)(B), (c)(2)(A)(ii) and (d)(3)(A) to (B); 8 CFR 216.6(b)(1) to (b)(3); 22 CFR 42.62(a) and (b)(1); 8 CFR 245.6. Note that 8 CFR 216.6(b)(1) still states the pre-2022 waiver authority and does not carry the limits the 2022 Act wrote into 1186b(d)(3)(B), so the regulation is good for USCIS practice on the record but not for the current waiver test.

Where this is explained properly

Pages here that go into interview rather than mentioning it.

Related terms

Removal of conditionsRemoval of conditions is the last EB-5 filing, Form I-829, submitted in the 90 days before the second anniversary of conditional residence, in which the investor shows the required capital was invested and kept invested for the period the law requires and that ten full-time jobs were created or can be expected within a reasonable time.
Form I-829Form I-829, Petition by Investor to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status, is the petition an EB-5 conditional permanent resident files in the 90 days before the second anniversary of that status, asking USCIS to confirm the capital was invested and the ten jobs created and to make the green card unconditional.
Consular processingConsular processing is the route to permanent residence through a US embassy or consulate abroad, on Form DS-260 and an interview, rather than by adjusting status inside the United States. It is the only route for an investor who stays outside the country, and it is open by choice to one already inside.
Adjustment of statusAdjustment of status is the process under 8 U.S.C. 1255 by which someone already in the United States becomes a permanent resident without leaving, on Form I-485, instead of collecting an immigrant visa at a consulate abroad. An EB-5 investor who adjusts is granted conditional permanent residence for two years, the same status a consular applicant receives on admission.
Site visitA site visit is an in person inspection USCIS makes of a regional center, a new commercial enterprise, a job creating entity or a location where claimed jobs are said to sit, and since 15 March 2024 a performed site visit is one of the statutory conditions for removing conditions on residence.

Checked against primary sources on 10 August 2026. Back to the glossary