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Here’s the latest EB5 priority date India news as well as other important information affecting Indian applicants of the investor visa program.
EB5 Priority Date India News:
The upcoming Visa Bulletin for April 2020 shows final action dates for India as January 1, 2019. An EB5 priority date for an Indian applicant must be earlier than this final action date in order for them to proceed in the program process and get a visa because it’s currently an oversubscribed country.
Will India Become Current?
According to the EB5 Stakeholder Engagement on March 13, 2020, the Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division predicted that India will become current by the summer of 2020 and will remain current for the foreseeable future, pending receipt of larger volumes of petitions. EB5 applicants from ‘current’ countries may apply to receive a visa and receive one when one becomes available.
The Visa Availability Approach
Countries with dates listed on Dates for Filing (Chart B of the Visa Bulletin) will be affected by the Visa Availability Approach set to go into effect on March 31, 2020. India does not have a date listed on the Date for Filing chart. As of the upcoming April 2020 Visa Bulletin, Mainland China is the only country with a Dates for Filing date listed.
Current EB5 Processing Times for I-526
Current EB5 processing times for I-526 petitions at the Immigrant Investor Program Office are 33 months to 50 months, but it should be noted that USCIS states below these times, “The estimated time range displayed is based on data captured approximately two months prior to updating the page.”
Due to these times being based on two-month-old data, processing times may be lower. Historical national average processing times for FY2020 (October 1, 2019 – December 31, 2019) for the I-526 Petition is listed as just 12.3 months.
India Tax on Remittances
On April 1, 2020, an India tax on remittances will go into effect. For potential Indian EB-5 investors looking to apply at the $900,000, this may be an extra $50,000 in costs. Planning now and moving funds to the U.S. prior to April 1, 2020, may be helpful.
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