How long can you expect to wait for an EB-5 visa?

What does the EB-5 visa data reveal?

At a 2018 AILA & IIUSA EB-5 Industry Forum panel, the Department of State Visa Control Office Chief Charles Oppenheim presented long-awaited current visa-availability data. The data, which was revealed in a slideshow, showed Mr. Oppenheim’s prediction about current EB-5 visa wait times based on a filing date of October 30, 2018.The slide stated that, “Wait time estimate is the number of years between the time an I-526 petition is filed today (October 30, 2018) and the time when an EB-5 visa is likely to be available based on current number use patterns, including the processing time of adjudicating an I-526 petition.”Mainland-born China: 14 yearsVietnam: 7.2 yearsIndia: 5.7 yearsSouth Korea: 2.2 yearsChina-Taiwan: 1.7 yearsBrazil: 1.5 yearsProcessing times for all other countries is current.More factors to consider:Despite Mr. Oppenheim’s prediction, the wait times may be significantly less. In the last year, the number of I-526 petitions filed has dropped drastically and the time it takes to process the visas has improved. These two factors alone may indicate a much lower wait time than is predicted, especially for investors who filed prior to October 30, 2018.The EB-5 Program remains a very popular route for foreign entrepreneurs and their families to obtain green cards in exchange for investing in qualified U.S. new commercial enterprises. According to IIUSA, over 26,000 families are estimated to have immigrated to the U.S. through the EB-5 Program between FY2000 and FY2018.Another interesting slide shows the huge shift in who's applying for EB-5. This may be extremely helpful to investors from China who are still interested in EB-5, but were intimidated by the number of investors applying. If this decrease continues, potential investors may have a faster processing period as the backlog lessons. This slide shows the Percentage of EB-5 Visas Used by Country of Chargeability (FY2018):China: 4,642 (48.3%) This number has dropped significantly. For the last 7 years, Chinese investors have received over 75% of the total EB-5 visas.Vietnam: 693, (7.2%) The number of investors from Vietnam continues to increase and, for the first time, it has reached its visa country cap in FY2018.India: 585 (6.1%) India has also seen a substantial increase in interest. In FY2017, India received 1.7% of the total visa allocation.Venezuela (237 or 2.5%), Brazil (388 or 4%), South Korea (531 or 5.5%), and Taiwan (452 or 4.7%) have all doubled their EB-5 usage since FY2017.Rest of of the world: 2,074 (21.6%) The rest of the world’s share of EB-5 is up from 11% in FY 2017.Do you have a question? Send us a message![formidable id="11" title="1"]