CanAm Enterprises advises that investors should file their EB-5 petitions early to avoid further backlogs and extended waiting periods.
Reasons for EB-5 Visa Retrogression
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) limits the number of EB-5 visas that can be issued annually to 10,000, which includes the principal investor, their spouse, and unmarried children under the age of 21. Consequently, if each petition includes three family members, USCIS will only issue visas for approximately 3,300 EB-5 petitions per year.
USCIS also limits the number of visas per country to 7%, or 700 EB-5 visas annually. When there are signs that the 10,000 EB-5 visa limit will be reached in a given year, and a specific country is about to exhaust its allocation, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) will establish a cutoff date for issuing EB-5 visas to immigrants from that country.
According to representatives from CanAm Enterprises, those who file before that cutoff date and receive approval may receive EB-5 visas from that fiscal year’s allocation. Conversely, those who file later must wait until the U.S. reallocates visas. Cutoff dates for priority immigration categories and the list of affected countries are published in the monthly Visa Bulletin issued by the DOS.
Historically, China has been an exception, as the majority of the 10,000 annual EB-5 visas were issued to immigrants from this country, regardless of the 7% per-country limit. This occurred because EB-5 visa demand in other countries was relatively low; therefore, any “leftover” or “unused” visas from other nations were allocated to Chinese immigrants.
As the EB-5 program grew in popularity in China and increased significantly in other countries such as Vietnam, South Korea, and India, global demand for EB-5 visas exceeded the 10,000 annual limit. Consequently, the DOS imposed the 7% limit on Mainland China starting in May 2015.
Visa Retrogression in Vietnam
According to the immigrant visa bulletin issued by the DOS in May 2018, EB-5 investment immigrant visas for Vietnamese nationals were placed on a waiting list. Once the annual quota is exhausted, the National Visa Center (NVC) under the DOS uses the “priority date”—the date USCIS received the investor’s I-526 petition—to establish a waiting list and determine the order of priority for issuing immigrant visas.
In May 2018, the DOS imposed a priority date for EB-5 visas for Vietnam, similar to China. This occurred because EB-5 visas are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis; therefore, any “unused” visas from other countries were previously allocated to China.
Lessons Learned from China
When the DOS first applied an EB-5 visa priority date for China in May 2015, the visa bulletin at that time stated that the expected waiting time was approximately 2 years. However, many people expecting new EB-5 visas to be issued the following year caused a sudden surge in applications from this country. As a result, the waiting time for Chinese visas could be extended to 10 years or even longer.
Although the number of Vietnamese nationals interested in the EB-5 program has increased sharply in recent years, the volume of applications has not surged as massively in a short period or become as backlogged as in China. However, according to representatives from CanAm Enterprises, the 700 new EB-5 visas issued each year will feel increasingly insufficient as Vietnamese demand grows stronger.
The DOS estimates that Vietnamese citizens starting the EB-5 immigration process as of May 2019 will have to wait approximately 7.6 years for an EB-5 visa. This estimate includes the roughly 2-year waiting period for I-526 petition approval.
Experts at CanAm Enterprises suggest that investors should file their EB-5 petitions early to avoid backlogs and extended waiting periods. Furthermore, early filing limits the risk of prolonged retrogression, which could cause an investor’s children to “age out” and become ineligible to immigrate as dependents on their parents’ visa petition.
“Vietnamese citizens wishing to obtain legal permanent residency through the EB-5 program should seek to do so now, before the EB-5 retrogression for Vietnam worsens,” a CanAm Enterprises representative stated.
Tam Anh
