The EB-5 Program Will Have More Visa’s 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
info@cmbeb5visa.com
