USCIS has provided statistics for I-526 and I-829 filings, approvals and denials for FY 2009

FY 2009 Receipt Approved Denied
Form I-526 1028 966 163
Form I-829 437 335 55

Form I-526 and I-829 petitions are within the established processing time target of five months.
There are currently 75 approved Regional Centers. See question #10 for directions to the list of approved regional centers on USCIS’ website. There are less than 50 regional center applications pending at the CSC.

It was reported at the AILA EB-5 conference in San Francisco that over 4,100 EB-5 immigrant visa numbers were used last fiscal year. The USCIS has estimated in the past that over
90% of all EB-5 petitions are filed through regional centers. If so, that means that more than 3,000 EB-5 visas were issued last year for investors investing through regional centers, more than the 3,000 number specified in the EB-5 statute.

USCIS interprets the set aside of visas to ensure that a minimum of 3,000 visas are available for regional center based applicants. We do not see the set aside as limiting the number of visas that can be granted to regional center based applicants.