The EB-5 Visa Investors’ managing partner says the combination of rural priority processing and concurrent filing is creating a new opportunity for H-1B professionals seeking permanent residency.
An important discussion currently unfolding among high-skilled foreign professionals in the United States centers on the growing intensity of immigration reforms that are leaving increasingly limited long-term options for those seeking permanent residency. In this environment, the EB-5 immigrant investor program is emerging as a viable alternative pathway.
For many years, the program was largely associated with financing large urban real estate developments — luxury condominiums, hotels, and major commercial projects in metropolitan areas. Today, however, recent immigration policy changes and mounting green card backlogs in employment-based categories — particularly affecting professionals working in the U.S. on temporary visas such as H-1B—are prompting a new group of potential investors to take a closer look at the program.
Immigration experts note that reforms introduced under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, including visa set-asides for rural and high-unemployment areas and priority processing for petitions connected to rural Targeted Employment Areas (TEAs), have made the pathway significantly more attractive.
One person closely tracking these developments is Brennen McConnell, managing partner at EB-5 Visa Investors, a Cleveland-based EB-5 Regional Center operator that has helped more than 250 immigrant investors obtain U.S. permanent residency through investments in real estate and manufacturing projects. With more than a decade of experience in investment-linked immigration, he oversees EB-5 offerings designed to combine job creation in American communities with pathways to residency for global investors.
In the following conversation, McConnell explains why rural EB-5 projects are gaining momentum and how the evolving program may offer a new pathway to permanent residency for highly skilled immigrants already living and working in the United States.
The EB-5 program has traditionally been associated with large urban real estate projects. What policy or market changes have led to the recent shift toward rural projects, and how significant is that shift today?
In 2022, Congress passed the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act (RIA), which introduced several significant changes to the EB-5 program. One of the most important changes was the creation of visa set-asides: 20% of the annual EB-5 visas are now reserved for rural projects, while 10% are reserved for high-unemployment urban areas.
As a result, investors in rural projects have benefited from priority processing. In order to ensure that the annual set-aside is used up, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has been adjudicating rural project petitions (submitted via form I-526E) much faster than traditional cases. Some rural investors have received I-526E approvals in as little as three months, whereas historically approvals often took more than a year.
Data obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by the American Immigrant Investor Alliance (AIIA), an EB-5 industry advocacy group focused on investor interests, shows that nearly half of all EB-5 investments since the RIA took effect in 2022 have gone into rural projects. Before the RIA, rural investments represented only a small fraction of EB-5 activity.
Many high-skilled professionals—especially those on H-1B visas—face extremely long green card backlogs. In practical terms, how does the EB-5 pathway compare with employment-based routes like EB-2 or EB-3 for someone currently working in the United States?
Aside from marriage, EB-5 is often the fastest path to a U.S. green card for many applicants today. Employment-based categories such as EB-2 and EB-3 currently have very long backlogs, particularly for applicants from countries like India and China.
By contrast, EB-5 remains current for post-RIA investors across all countries according to the latest U.S. Department of State Visa Bulletin. This means applicants can move forward with the immigration process without waiting for visa availability.
In addition, we have recently seen a number of investors in rural EB-5 projects receive I-526E approvals in under six months, which further improves the timeline compared with traditional employment-based pathways.
The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 introduced rural visa set-asides and priority processing. How have these provisions changed the timeline and attractiveness of EB-5 for investors already living in the U.S.?
Each year approximately 10,000 EB-5 green cards are available. Under the RIA, 20% of those visas—about 2,000 annually—are reserved specifically for rural projects.
To ensure that these visas are utilized, USCIS has been prioritizing the processing of petitions associated with rural investments. This has significantly shortened adjudication timelines compared with traditional EB-5 processing.
At the same time, the RIA introduced concurrent filing, which allows investors already in the United States to apply for adjustment of status while their EB-5 petition is pending. Because of this, overall processing time has become somewhat less critical: investors can begin enjoying many of the practical benefits of a green card during the waiting period.
However, faster adjudications still provide important peace of mind. For many investors, particularly professionals working in the U.S., the ability to secure a clear immigration outcome more quickly makes rural EB-5 projects especially attractive.
Concurrent filing is often mentioned as a major advantage for EB-5 applicants. Could you explain how it works and what benefits it offers to professionals who are already in the country on temporary visas?
Concurrent filing was introduced by the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act and has been particularly beneficial for investors already living in the United States on temporary visas such as H-1B or F-1.
As long as the EB-5 category remains current in the Visa Bulletin, applicants can file Form I-485 for adjustment of status at the same time they submit their I-526E petition. This allows them to receive interim immigration benefits while their EB-5 petition is pending.
These benefits include employment authorization through an EAD card and advance parole, which permits international travel without abandoning the application. For many applicants, this effectively removes the anxiety around maintaining work authorization or immigration status during the EB-5 process.
There has recently been a change in EAD validity—from five years to eighteen months—which has raised some concerns. However, applicants can apply for renewal six months before expiration, which typically provides sufficient time for renewal processing. In addition, many investors in rural projects are receiving I-526E approvals well within that timeframe, meaning the shorter EAD validity affects relatively few cases in practice.
You talked to about recent projects like the Cairnspring Mills flour mill in Oregon that highlights the economic development goals of EB-5. From your perspective, how effectively is the program today balancing its dual purpose—providing immigration opportunities while supporting job creation in underserved communities?
In my view, the program has become significantly more effective since the Reform and Integrity Act, particularly because of the rural visa set-aside.
Before the RIA, relatively little EB-5 capital flowed into rural communities. According to data obtained by AIIA, more than $5.1 billion in EB-5 investment has gone into rural areas between April 2022 and July 2025 as a direct result of the rural set-aside.
Even in urban projects, capital is now better targeted. The RIA strengthened the requirements for qualifying as a high-unemployment targeted employment area, which has largely eliminated the previous practice of “gerrymandering” census tracts to qualify projects in otherwise strong markets.
That said, many EB-5 projects still involve higher-end commercial real estate developments because developers view EB-5 as an attractive source of capital. While these projects can still produce meaningful job creation, manufacturing investments such as the Cairnspring Mills expansion represent the type of project Congress likely envisioned.
The new mill being built in rural eastern Oregon will create dozens of permanent manufacturing jobs and hundreds of additional construction and indirect jobs while helping rebuild regional grain economies and strengthen domestic food supply chains. Projects like this demonstrate how EB-5 can simultaneously support immigration pathways and meaningful economic development in underserved communities.