S.386 Bill Would Eliminate the EB-5 Per-Country Cap for Green Cards

On Wednesday, December 2, 2020, the United States Senate passed S.386, also known as “Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act”, which would eliminate the per-country cap limit on EB-5 and other employment-based green cards.

While S.386 was passed by the Senate, due to substantial changes, the bill must return to the House of Representatives and pass both houses before landing on President Trump’s desk for a signature.

Currently, there’s a 7% per-country cap limit on EB-5 visas, meaning no one country can receive more than 7% of the visas, unless there are left over visas, in which case these are allocated to the longest waiting applicants regardless of country of origin.

If passed, this bill may be a game-changer for EB-5, whose per-country caps have placed investors from high-demand countries in lengthy visa backlogs. Investors from China would see the most benefit, as they have been waiting the longest for visas. Other backlogged countries, such as Vietnam and India could also benefit.

Interestingly, Kamala Harris, Vice President-Elect, is an original co-sponsor of this bill.

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