A group of Indian nationals who collectively invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into the US economy under the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program (commonly referred to as the investment-linked green card) have sued the head of the US government office overseeing the program, alleging unlawful denial of their applications and failure to implement investor protections mandated by law.The lawsuit, filed in a US District Court (Northern District of California) lists seven plaintiffs—Indian citizens living in California, New York, and India—who invested in a pooled fund managed by the now defunct Texas EB-5 Regional Center. The suit names Alissa Emmel, Chief of the Immigrant Investor Program Office at US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), as the sole defendant.At the heart of the dispute is the plaintiffs’ contention that USCIS failed to honour provisions of the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA). The Act was passed by the US Congress to shield ‘good faith’ EB-5 investors from fallout when regional centers or project sponsors failed to comply with program requirements or became defunct. This lawsuit is perhaps the first of its kind following the passage of the RIA.Under the EB-5 route currently an investment of $800,000 for projects in Target Employment Areas (TEAs) – which are rural and high-unemployment areas or for infrastructure projects; or an investment of $1,050,000 in other cases, entitles the investor to a green-card comparatively quickly. For Indians, caught in a decades long backlog for an employment-linked green card, this route is a quicker option – if they have the money to make the investment required under the EB-5 program.In addition, to the investment, job creation of at least ten local jobs is required. Investments can be made either directly (such as by operating a business) or indirectly via regional centers, which in turn invest in commercial enterprises which initiate specific projects – such as building a hotel. A significant number of investors opt for the regional center route.According to the lawsuit-complaint, the Texas-based regional center failed to pay statutorily required fees and did not file the required annual compliance forms. Under the RIA, such noncompliance should have triggered an automatic termination of the center within 90 days. However, USCIS allegedly took no action until more than a year later—following a separate lawsuit filed by another investor.Because USCIS delayed the termination of the regional center and failed to notify investors as required, the plaintiffs argue they were wrongly denied the opportunity to amend their EB-5 petitions or re-associate with compliant projects—a key protection offered under the RIA. Instead, each of their applications (Form I-526 petitions)—filed between 2019 and 2020—were summarily denied in 2024. The lawsuit states that USCIS violated the Administrative Procedure Act by unlawfully withholding agency action and failing to follow statutory procedures.Beyond the legal claims, the lawsuit-complaint documents personal hardships that the plaintiffs had to bear: missed career opportunities, financial hardship, and emotional distress stemming from prolonged uncertainty. Some have lived in the US for years on temporary visas and were hoping for permanent residency through the EB-5 route. Others, who are in India are unable to plan their futures.One plaintiff, based in California holding an H-1B visa, described the strain of being laid-off and the difficulty in finding suitable employment opportunities without a green card. Owing to his temporary non-immigrant visa status, he also pointed out that it was difficult to travel to India to attend marriages or even funerals. Another plaintiff, based in Santa Clara, said he passed up several career advancement opportunities due to the instability of his immigration status and also put his dream of home-ownership on hold.For plaintiffs still residing in India, the story was similar. Two of the petitioners from Gujarat said they had turned down business opportunities and now faced uncertainty about both professional prospects and personal plans.In their lawsuit-complaint, these plaintiffs submitted that USCIS’s inaction undermines Congressional intent behind the 2022 reform, which was specifically designed to prevent immigrant investors from losing their immigration prospects due to failures beyond their control. Despite public USCIS statements that pre-RIA investors are eligible for protections, the plaintiffs say the agency has failed to apply those principles in practice.Alexandra George Santhanam, Associate Attorney at The Galati Law Firm, which is representing these investors, stated, “Plaintiffs each invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in the U.S. economy. They did everything in their power to apply for permanent residency in good faith. USCIS ignored the duties imposed upon it by Congress. Because of that, their American Dream is now dead. This is an injustice that the Court has the power to address and order the Defendant to remedy.”Plaintiffs are asking the court to declare USCIS’ inaction unlawful, reopen their EB-5 petitions, and provide the written notices necessary to reinvest their capital and continue their immigration processes.The lawsuit may test how seriously US immigration authorities are held to their own statutory obligations—and whether the ‘American Dream’ that the EB-5 investors were sold can be salvaged by court intervention.
