The chief of the Department of State’s Visa Control and Reporting Division provided an estimate of the final action dates over the next several months and the estimated wait times for an EB-5 green card.

Late last year, founding partner Sophie Alcorn wrote about Charles Oppenheim’s October 2018 predictions and offered alternatives to the EB-5 green card. Now, the highest demand for EB-5 green cards continues to come from individuals from China, India, and Vietnam. Oppenheim recently provided the “worst case scenario” projected wait times for EB-5 investors if they filed a new Form I-526 on May 6, 2019. Here we compare Oppenheim’s current projected wait times with his projected wait times from late last year:

 

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN	WAIT TIME FOR EB-5 May 2019 Priority Date	WAIT TIME FOR EB-5 October 2018 Priority Date
China	16.5 years	14.0 years
India	8.4 years	5.7 years
Vietnam	7.6 years	7.2 years
South Korea	2.4 years	2.2 years
Taiwan	2.0 years	1.7 years
Brazil	1.6 years	1.5 years
Rest of the World	No foreseeable backlog	No foreseeable backlog

 

EB-5 Retrogression

Immigration law caps the number of EB-5 green cards at about 10,000 annually with no more than 7 percent going to a single country of origin. That means if the number of EB-5 petitions from individuals of a country outstrips the available supply, they must wait for a green card number to become available.

The Visa Bulletin shows which green card petitions from which countries can move forward and which petitions must continue to wait in line.

Currently, EB-5 green cards remain available for investors from India, according to the June Visa Bulletin. However, India is expected to reach the per-country annual limit in July due to continued heavy demand from Indian investors. Given that, we urge investors from India to file EB-5 petitions as soon as possible. Reach out to us for assistance.

The U.S. Department of State, which issues the Visa Bulletin, expects a final action date of sometime in 2017 for EB-5 green cards will be imposed on India. In August, India will face the same final action date for China for the remainder of the fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30. In the latest Visa Bulletin, China’s final action date moved forward one week to Oct. 1, 2014. At the start of the new fiscal year, which begins on Oct. 1, 2019, the priority EB-5 date for India will likely advance to the summer or fall of 2017.

Like China, the line for EB-5 green card investors from Vietnam moved forward slightly to Oct. 1, 2016. In August, Vietnam’s priority date will retrogress two years to the same Oct. 1, 2014 date as China, according to the Visa Bulletin. It will then advance to a fall or early winter 2016 priority date at the start of the new fiscal year.

 

Immigration for Innovation

The Alcorn Immigration Law team knows immigration leads to innovation. Reach out to us if we can help you file an EB-5 petition or find alternative options.