Using ChatGPT to Determine Processing Times and Chance of Approval for the EB-5 Visa

The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program has long attracted international investors seeking a pathway to U.S. permanent residency. But the journey through the program, from petition to Green Card, is rarely simple. Processing times can vary widely and success rates depend on a tangle of legal, financial, and procedural factors.

That’s where tools like ChatGPT can come in. While artificial intelligence can’t replace immigration attorneys or advisors, it can help EB-5 investors interpret government data, model timelines, and anticipate potential risks.

This article explores how you can use ChatGPT to make sense of processing times and approval likelihoods within the EB-5 process.

Understanding the Complexity of EB-5 Processing

The EB-5 process involves several distinct stages, each governed by separate USCIS petitions and procedures. Depending on your specific case, you may pass through all or some of the following steps:

• Form I-526E: The initial immigrant petition by an investor.
• Form I-485 (adjustment of status) or consular processing: Depending on whether the applicant is in the U.S. or abroad.
• Form I-829: Petition to remove conditions on the Green Card after two years of residency.

Each form has its own processing timeline, approval statistics, and common pitfalls. Add to that the variables of country-specific visa backlogs, investment type, and project location, meaning in a targeted employment area (TEA) or a standard location, and it’s easy to see why EB-5 timelines and outcomes are hard to pin down.

That’s precisely why a tool like ChatGPT can be helpful.

How ChatGPT Helps

ChatGPT is a large language model trained on public data, capable of synthesizing complex information and drawing connections across sources. When it comes to EB-5, ChatGPT can assist in two main areas:

1. Estimating processing times, based on historical data and current USCIS trends.
2. Assessing likelihood of approval, by highlighting key risk factors and reviewing published approval/denial statistics.

Let’s take a closer look at how this works in practice.

Estimating EB-5 Processing Times Using ChatGPT

When asked the right questions, ChatGPT can synthesize data from sources such as:

• The official USCIS Processing Time Reports
• Recent visa bulletins from the U.S. Department of State
• Industry updates and investor bulletins
• Publicly available statistics on EB-5 filings and adjudications

Of course, ChatGPT can also help adjust estimates for different variables, such as a non-rural project, a direct investment, or being from a low-demand country.

Country of Birth and the Visa Bulletin

One of the most significant factors influencing EB-5 wait times is the applicant’s country of birth. Due to per-country visa caps, investors from high-demand countries like India and China typically face significant delays in unreserved categories.

ChatGPT can help you interpret the State Department’s monthly Visa Bulletin to understand where your country stands in terms of EB-5 visa availability. For example:

• If you’re from China or India, ChatGPT may identify whether your EB-5 category is currently backlogged. As of the November 2025 visa bulletin, there is no visa retrogression for set-aside categories in any nationality, but this may change soon.
• If you’re from a country like Turkey, Brazil, or South Africa, where demand is lower, it may show that your priority date is likely to be “current.”

With this information, you can determine whether your post-approval wait for a visa number will be short or extended, and whether set-aside categories might offer faster pathways.

Assessing Your Approval Odds

While processing times are largely procedural, approval chances are often determined by the quality of your case, particularly your investment documentation and the credibility of the project.

ChatGPT can guide you through:

Historical Approval Rates

USCIS has published data over the years on approval and denial rates for EB-5 forms. ChatGPT can summarize this data quickly. By understanding the historical context, you get a clearer view of how favorable your petition might be, especially if you’re investing in a strong project with a proven track record.

Key Risk Factors

ChatGPT can also help you identify risks that commonly lead to denials. These may include:

• Poor or insufficient source of funds documentation
• Lack of clear evidence that the investment is at risk and actively engaged
• Project failures to demonstrate job creation
• Investing with a non-compliant regional center
• Errors or inconsistencies in financial statements

By surfacing these common pitfalls, ChatGPT gives you a checklist of areas to double-check with your attorney before filing.

Smarter EB-5 Planning With ChatGPT

ChatGPT is an excellent research and planning tool, but it’s not a licensed advisor. It can help clarify government jargon, synthesize publicly available data, simulate timelines and approval likelihoods, and prompt you with important questions to ask your attorney. However, it can’t read your documentation, interpret USCIS intent letters, or guarantee outcomes. Use it to enhance your understanding, not as a substitute for formal legal guidance.

Using ChatGPT, you can build a more realistic picture of how long your journey might take, and what might stand in the way. You can compare scenarios, understand your risk profile, and walk into conversations with attorneys and advisors already informed.

If you’re an investor considering EB-5, start asking better questions about your processing timeline, country-specific delays, and project risks. With tools like ChatGPT, you don’t have to rely on vague promises or outdated assumptions.

EB5AN has helped more than 2,700 families from 70+ countries become lawful permanent residents of the United States. Our expert team has more than a decade of experience and offers clients first-rate, low-risk EB-5 regional center projects with a 100% USCIS project approval rate.

If you would like to know more about your EB-5 investment options, book a free call with our expert team today.