Three Reasons Why 2023 May Be The Best Time To Apply For The EB-5 Visa
The best opportunity for investment immigrants from India and China to apply for the EB-5 visa may have arrived in 2023.
No Backlog in Reserved Categories
Enacted in March 2022, the Reform and Integrity Act introduced reserved categories in the EB-5 visa program.
Out of the annual quota of 10,000 EB-5 visas, the Act reserves
- 20 percent to applicants investing in rural areas
- 10 percent to those investing in high unemployment areas, and
- 2 percent to investors investing in infrastructure projects.
Unused visas in these reserved categories will be carried forward to the next year and will be returned to the general category only if they remain unused for two years.
The introduction of reserved categories has suddenly opened up a backlog-free route to the EB-5 visa for investors from China and India.
As of February 2023, EB-5 visas are available to Chinese investors only if they had filed their I-526 on March 22, 2015 or earlier. For Indian applicants, this date is November 8, 2019.
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This means an Indian or Chinese investor filing an I-526 today can avoid the backlog completely by choosing to invest in a project that falls under any reserved category.
With the revamped EB-5 program up and running and with complete clarity on the operation of reserved categories, an Indian or Chinese investor using this route can easily become a green card holder in two or three years.
Concurrent Filing
Another reason why 2023 is the best opportunity to apply for the EB-5 visa is the introduction of option of concurrent filing.
Earlier, investors had to file their I-526 petition and could apply for adjustment of status only after their I-526 was approved.
Obviously, the I-485 could be filed only if the priority date was current and the EB-5 visa was available.
Further, investors had to wait for the I-485 to be processed before they could qualify for unconditional permanent residence.
Now, investors can file the I-485 concurrently with the I-526 as long as the priority date is current on the date of filing and the date of I-526 approval.
The first benefit of this provision is the transition from conditional to unconditional permanent residence will be much quicker.
Secondly, investors and their family members can apply for an employment authorization document at the time of the concurrent filing.
This means investors and their family members can avoid all the restrictions imposed by non-immigrant visas while the I-526 is being processed.
The Pandemic Effect
Reserved categories apart, 2023 is a great opportunity for general EB-5 investors as well.
The pandemic saw a drastic fall in EB-5 petitions, which means there is a bigger pool of available visas for those choosing to invest in a general category project.
With complete clarity around investment requirements and the status of the Regional Center Program, general investors can look for faster processing of their applications.
Of course, they always have the option of shifting to a reserved category project without any significant impact on their green card prospects.