USA Provides More EB-5 Visas in 2021September 26, 2020
CMB News: The EB-5 Program Will Have More Visas In FY 2021
On September 24, 2020, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) released their October 2020 visa bulletin. In a typical year, the total number of visas allocated to the Employment-Based category is approximately 140,000 visas. Of that total, 7.1% are allocated for the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program (EB-5) for a normal yearly EB-5 total of approximately 9,940 visas.
The October visa bulletin provided great news to all EB-5 investors that have been waiting for visas. The bulletin shows that Employment-Based preferences are anticipated to be allocated approximately 261,500 visas, an all-time high to use within the fiscal year (FY) 2021. This figure allows for 18,567 visas (7.1% of the total) to be allocated to EB-5.
Of the 18,567 visas that will be available for EB-5 in FY 2021, 7% are available for each individual country. Countries that currently affected by retrogression and have a visa backlog, will have 1,300 visas available compared to the usual approximately 700. The excess of visas available for EB-5 for FY 2021 have the potential to reduce the wait time for countries that currently have a backlog – China, India, and Vietnam. However, for all of the visas to be used, the consulates will have to remain open and processing and issuing visas in a timely manner.
These extra visas for the Employment-Based preference resulted largely from consulates being closed and not processing all the Family-Based preference visas in FY 2020. Any unused visas in the Family Based preference in a fiscal year are allocated the following fiscal year to the Employment-Based preference category.
The recent slowdowns in USCIS adjudication could indicate that the vast majority of available visas this year will go to those applicants with an already approved I-526, as long as consulates remain open this year. There are ample families that that have already received a USCIS I-526 petition approval that could benefit from the influx of these 18,000 or more visas.
If you are interested in more information about the October 2020 Visa bulletin or would like more information about the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, please contact CMB at: +1-309-797-1500 or [email protected]
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