The U.S. Department of State has released its Report of the Visa Office for fiscal year 2018 which shows the number of visas issued by country for the EB-5 Program. What’s interesting about it is the increase in the number of EB-5 visas being issued to applicants from new countries.
While visas for Mainland China investors still dominate, their total percentage share of the visas has dropped significantly over the year. In FY 2017, Mainland China investors made up 75% of the visas, while in FY 2018, this percentage dropped to 48%. Comparably, the percentage of total visas for all other top countries rose.
This information is important for marketers and as well as past Mainland Chinese investors. Marketers can use these statistics to help identity the next big potential EB-5 market and past Mainland Chinese investors can use these statistics to gauge how EB-5 demand will affect their visa wait times. Since China suffers from the EB-5 backlog, they would benefit greatly from seeing a few top countries reach their per-country visa-cap and enter into the backlog. This is because once they’re in the backlog, the Chinese investors move to the top of the waiting list for their visa.
Here’s a look at the top countries with total visa numbers and percentages of total from FY 2017 and FY 2018 for comparison:
| Country | FY 2017 Total | FY 2017 Percentage | FY 2018 Total | FY 2018 Percentage |
| China Mainland born | 7,567 | 75% | 4,642 | 48.3% |
| Vietnam | 471 | 4.7% | 693 | 7.2% |
| India | 174 | 1.7% | 585 | 6.1% |
| South Korea | 195 | 1.9% | 531 | 5.5% |
| China Taiwan born | 188 | 1.9 | 452 | 4.7% |
| Brazil | 282 | 2.8% | 388 | 4.0% |
| Venezuela | 108 | 1.1% | 237 | 2.5% |
| Hong Kong S.A.R. | 81 | 0.8% | 200 | 2.1% |
| Mexico | 85 | 0.8% | 174 | 1.8% |
| Russia | 115 | 1.1% | 134 | 1.4% |
| Nigeria | 89 | 0.9% | 113 | 1.2% |
| Canada | 55 | 0.5% | 109 | 1.1% |
| Pakistan | 22 | 0.2% | 103 | 1.1% |
| South Africa | 53 | 0.5% | 91 | 0.9% |
| Great Britain and territories | 82 | 0.8% | 84 | 0.9% |
Key Takeaways:
EB-5 popularity outside of Mainland China grew rapidly in FY 2018. The number of visas issued to Mainland China decreased by nearly 3,000! All the other countries saw major growth, but India, South Korea, China Taiwan born, Venezuela, Hong Kong S.A.R., Mexico, and Pakistan, were issued more than double the number of visas in FY 2018 compared the previous year.Of those 7 countries to keep an eye on, Pakistan had the most growth, followed by India, South Korea, and Hong Kong S.A.R.For more information about FY 2018 EB-5 statistics, send us a message.
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