Long Delays in Chinese EB-5 Visas, because of Backlog with EB-5 Lawyer Mark Ivener. ESQ

EB-5 Visa Program Experiences Dip in Applications

The EB 5 Visa program is experiencing a dip in demand from Chinese immigrants because of the wild popularity of the EB 5 visa program. The EB-5 visa is one of the United States of America’s employment based visa programs which offer Green Card visa opportunities to immigrants who qualify. The United States created the program based on economic incentive and job growth. To qualify a foreign national must invest a minimum of $900,000 dollars into an approved American business or “regional center.” The investment made must also create a minimum of 10 jobs for American citizens. The Chinese have been a major consumer of the opportunity presented by the EB-5 Visa program but the industry has noticed a drop in applications for the program from the Chinese because of the 10+ year wait time for visa approval.

The reason for this dip in visa applications is traceable to the backlog of EB 5 visas currently in queue. The EB-5 visa backlog exists because the visa program is limited to 10,000 visas per year. Upon approval of an EB-5 visa, the immigrant’s spouse and unmarried children under 21 are also eligible for a Green Card. This has led to some proposals to not include the family members in the 10,000 visa cap. Regardless of the proposal, the current backlog translates to significant waiting periods for hopeful immigrants.

As of November 1^st, 2015 there were 17,662 applications in the backlog for the fifth employment based visa. This increased to 24,629 applications by November 1^st, of 2016. Citizens of China make up 93% of the EB-5 visa backlog. That means that 22,910 of the 24,629 visas currently in queue are from Chinese nationals.

EB-5 Visa Applications by Country

China-mainland born: 22,910

Hong Kong S.A.R.: 447

Vietnam: 232

Korea, South:109

China-Taiwan born: 106

All Others: 825

Worldwide Total: 24,629

With a backlog of 22,910 visa applications, it would be incorrect to assume that the program is losing popularity. Clearly the demand for the visa is very high, but the dip in demand seems to be linked more to applicants losing hope on the timeline of their approvals. Assuming the 10,000 a year cap on approved eb-5 visas, this translates to a minimum of nearly two and a half year wait for visa approvals. However, in its annual report for 2017 The Department of Homeland Security stated that the wait time for new visa applications may be as long as 10 years.

Contact Mark Ivener for Help with EB-5 Visa applications

The Administrative Appeals Office reports that they are making significant improvements in eb5 visa processing times by handling most appeals to rejected visa applications within one hundred and eighty days or less. Los Angeles based immigration attorney Mark Ivener deals with eb5 visa applications on a daily basis and believes there are immigration options for Chinese applicants.