EB5AN is pleased to announce that the Lakeview Landingtargeted employment area (TEA) status, approved Forms I-956F, and a choice between a loan and an equity investment. This post explains what the approvals cover, why they matter under the latest USCIS prioritization guidance, and what they mean for investors ahead of the September 30, 2026 grandfathering deadline.
What Is Form I-956F Approval?
Why I-956F Approval Now Carries More Weight
What USCIS Confirmed About Lakeview Landing
Two Ways to Invest: Loan or Equity
Faster I-526E Processing for Lakeview Landing Investors
Timing and the September 30, 2026 Grandfathering Deadline
About the Lakeview Landing Project
Invest in Lakeview Landing Today
What Is Form I-956F Approval?
The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA) requires every regional center project to file Form I-956F with USCIS before its investors can file their individual Form I-526E petitions. The filing lays out the project in full: business plan, capital structure, location qualifications, job creation methodology, and compliance with program rules.
An approved Form I-956F means the project itself satisfies EB-5 program standards. For Lakeview Landing, the approval covers each core eligibility element:
- The project’s location in a rural TEA.
- The structure of the EB-5 investment and the protections built into it.
- The job creation methodology in the project’s independent economic report.
This removes a major source of uncertainty: the foundation of the investment has already been accepted by the agency that will decide each petition.
Why I-956F Approval Now Carries More Weight
Recent USCIS guidance on petition prioritization has made Form I-956F approval more consequential than ever. The agency applies a filtering approach to incoming I-526E petitions. Petitions tied to a project without an approved Form I-956F are unlikely to receive meaningful review. Among petitions linked to approved projects, those connected to rural TEAs are given preference, a priority written into the RIA and now applied with greater consistency. After those two filters, petitions are generally worked in filing order.
The result is a clear hierarchy: approved projects come first, rural projects move ahead within that group, and earlier filings keep their edge. A project without I-956F approval may still succeed eventually, but its investors face an unpredictable timeline. If USCIS issues a Request for Evidence or a Notice of Intent to Deny on the project filing, and the filing is denied, every investor petition tied to the project fails with it. Those investors typically lose their priority dates and must restart.
Lakeview Landing investors avoid this entire category of risk. The project sits in the most favored position under the new framework: approved and rural.
What USCIS Confirmed About Lakeview Landing
The I-956F approval reflects USCIS’s review of the project’s specific features. Here is what USCIS accepted.
Rural TEA Qualification
USCIS agreed that Lakeview Landing qualifies as a rural TEA. This sets the minimum investment at $800,000 rather than the standard $1,050,000, entitles investors to priority I-526E processing, and gives them access to the 20% of EB-5 visas reserved for rural projects.
Job Creation Methodology
USCIS accepted the project’s job creation analysis, prepared by an independent economic research firm using methodologies the agency recognizes. EB-5 investors must show their investment created at least 10 full-time jobs for U.S. workers before the conditions on their residency can be removed, so an accepted methodology is a core part of the Green Card case.
The margin is wide. Lakeview Landing needs 480 jobs to cover the maximum number of EB-5 investors and is expected to create 659 through construction and operations. That is a cushion of roughly 37% more jobs than required. The project also carries a job creation guaranty: the developer commits to spending all EB-5 funds on program-eligible expenditures, supporting the jobs every investor needs for permanent residency.
Investment Structure and Investor Protections
The approval also confirms that the project’s EB-5 investment structure complies with program rules. Fund administration is handled by PRXY Fund Services, an independent third party, in line with the RIA’s integrity provisions. PRXY’s platform records all EB-5 draws and expenditures and gives investors a real-time view of project metrics.
Both offering structures include an I-526E approval refund guaranty, designed to speed the return of an investor’s capital if their petition is denied.
Two Ways to Invest: Loan or Equity
Most EB-5 projects offer a single investment structure. Lakeview Landing offers two.
The loan offering is a secured loan with a three-year term, supported by a 100% equity pledge in the borrower entity. It adds a construction completion guaranty, under which the developer is responsible for finishing all project components that receive EB-5 capital.
The equity offering has a 4% annual preferred return and a three-year target duration.
In broad terms, the loan structure emphasizes downside protection through collateral, while the equity structure offers a stated return in exchange for an equity position. Both start at the $800,000 rural TEA minimum, use escrow, and are open for I-526E filings now. Investors can begin with a partial payment below $800,000 and fund the balance within a set period. This flexibility can help investors secure an earlier filing date.
Faster I-526E Processing for Lakeview Landing Investors
Because the project’s Forms I-956F are already approved, USCIS can defer to the approved project record when reviewing each investor’s I-526E petition. Adjudication then centers on the individual investor, primarily source of funds and personal eligibility, which tends to produce smoother reviews and shorter waits. On top of that sits the rural priority processing mandated by the RIA. Rural I-526E petitions have regularly been decided in under a year, far faster than typical urban cases.
Investors already in the United States on H-1B or L-1 status gain a further benefit. Because rural set-aside visas are current, they can file Form I-485 for adjustment of status concurrently with their I-526E petitions and apply for work and travel authorization while their cases are pending.
Timing and the September 30, 2026 Grandfathering Deadline
Investors who file their I-526E petitions on or before September 30, 2026 are grandfathered under the current EB-5 program rules, protecting their cases even if Congress later changes the program. That deadline is now less than three months away.
This is where approval status and timing intersect. If the project’s I-956F petition is denied, every investor petition tied to it fails with it. An investor caught in that position after the grandfathering deadline has passed would have to start over with a new project, without grandfathering protection and typically with a lost priority date. Investing in a project with an approved I-956F removes that risk.
About the Lakeview Landing Project
Lakeview Landing is a 289-unit market-rate apartment community within a 48-acre master-planned, mixed-use waterfront development in Granbury, Texas. The plan calls for four four-story residential buildings, with residents expected to have access to amenities across the wider development, including a clubhouse, a resort-style pool, a sky lounge overlooking Lake Granbury, a riverfront park, a marina, walking trails, restaurants, and retail. Vertical construction is already underway, meaning EB-5 capital is entering a project that is actively being built rather than one still on paper.
Granbury is a rural town in Hood County, about 35 miles from Fort Worth and 60 miles from Dallas, with downtown Fort Worth reachable in roughly 45 minutes via U.S. Highway 377 and connecting highways. USA Today has named Granbury a Best Historic Small Town, and the property is a five-minute drive from Historic Downtown Granbury.
The developer is Realty Capital Residential (RCR), the residential development division of Realty Capital. RCR has developed, or is developing, nearly 2,000 units across Texas and Colorado with a total development cost of more than $500 million. Once operations begin, the community is expected to be managed by Greystar, the largest apartment manager in the United States and a global leader in multifamily property management.
Lakeview Landing follows a structure closely modeled on EB5AN’s Boynton Beach, Terra Ceia, and Brandon multifamily projects, each of which has also received Form I-956F approval.
Invest in Lakeview Landing Today
With Form I-956F approval secured, rural TEA status confirmed, and both loan and equity structures open, Lakeview Landing offers a clear and fully vetted path toward U.S. permanent residency. Under the current USCIS prioritization framework, with the grandfathering deadline approaching, an approved rural project is positioned exactly where investors want to be. With less than three months until the deadline, investors who act now lock in their place under today’s program rules.
More than 3,000 families from over 70 countries have selected EB-5 projects sponsored by EB5AN regional centers. Our expert team has more than a decade of experience and offers clients high-quality, 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.