Highlights From IIUSA’s Discussion with Charles Oppenheim, Chief of Visa Control & Reporting Division

Take a look at a couple highlights from IIUSA’s discussion with the Chief of the Visa Control and Reporting Division of the U.S. Department of State, Charles Oppenheim, on November 19, 2020. To see the full slide show, visit here. It contains easy to follow charts and tables.

EB-5 Visa Popularity:

Top EB-5 Countries for FY 2016 – FY 2020 (Excluding Mainland Chinese-born who were top users in FY 2020 at 43.4%):

FY	#1	#2	#3	#4	#5
2020	India	Vietnam	South Korea	Brazil	Taiwan
2019	India	Vietnam	South Korea	Brazil	Taiwan
2018	Vietnam	India	South Korea	Taiwan	Brazil
2017	Vietnam	Brazil	Taiwan	South Korea	India
2016	Vietnam	South Korea	Taiwan	Brazil	India

 

EB-5 Visa Limits:

Annual estimated EB-5 visa limit for FY 2021: 18,600 (the highest it’s ever been)

The per-country limit would then be 1,300

Due to the consulates not processing visas and the expected roll-over of family-based visas, the number of EB-5 visas available could still be high in the next fiscal year.

EB-5 Visa Wait Times:

The potential wait time for an EB-5 visa if an investor filed their I-526 petition on November 19, 2020 (there’s a note on the slides stating that these are to be considered worst-case scenarios and they assume that processing of cases is able to resume at some point in time).

Country	Time in years
China -mainland born	17.2
India	7.8
Vietnam	7
South Korea	3.8
Taiwan	2.4
Brazil	1.8

 

Hong Kong Applicants (Good news):

Charles Oppenheim has stated that in his discussion that, as of now, Hong Kong will be treated as a foreign state separate from Mainland China for EB-5.

For more information or to get started with EB-5, fill out the quick free evaluation below. Have a great holiday!