Tag: eb-5 program

US Department of State Announces Annual Limit Reached in EB-5 Unreserved Category

The U.S. State Department and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that they have issued all legally available visas in the unreserved EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program categories for Fiscal Year 2024. Embassies and consulates have been directed to not issue immigrant visas in these categories until the new fiscal year (FY 2025) starts on Oct. 1, 2024.

As discussed in our recent blog post on EB-5 filing strategies, a total of approximately 140,000 immigrant visas are available every fiscal year for employment-based immigrant visas, including the EB-1, EB-2, EB-3, EB-4, and EB-5 categories. Of the 140,000 immigrant visas available annually, the government allocates approximately 10,000 to the EB-5 investor visa program. The visas are also subject to per-country visa quotas. The Immigration and Nationality Act sets the annual limit for EB-5 visas at 7.1% of the worldwide employment limit, of which 68% is available for unreserved visa categories (C5, T5, I5, R5, RU, NU). Additionally, the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 makes unused EB-5 reserved visas from FY 2022 available in the EB-5 unreserved categories for FY 2024.

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For more news on B-5 Immigrant Investor Program Visas, visit the NLR Immigration section.

State Department Makes Predictions about EB Cut-Off Date Movement

Notably, the State Department stated with certainty that the EB-2 Rest of the World category likely will retrogress in the coming months.

At a recent American Immigration Lawyers Association meeting, the US Department of State made comments about Employment-Based (EB) cut-off date movement in the final third of the fiscal year. This Immigration Alert summarizes the comments made by the State Department and what they could mean for EB cut-off date movement in the upcoming months.

EB-1: China and India

US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced that the “final action date” of January 1, 2012 will control for the China and India EB-1 categories. These have apparently exhausted close to 50% of the entire EB-1 limit for the 2017 fiscal year. This cut-off date is expected to be maintained until the end of September, when the fiscal year ends. The final action cut-off date for the China and India EB-1 categories may once again become current at the start of the new fiscal year on October 1, 2017, but there is no guarantee that this will happen.

EB-1: Rest of the World

The EB-1 Rest of the World category (i.e., countries other than China, India, Mexico, the Philippines, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras) should remain current for the foreseeable future.

EB-2: India

A slight advancement in the EB-2 India category will occur in June, but it is unlikely that this category will once again reach the most advanced final action cut-off date that was reached last year. The State Department stated that it may maintain the existing final action date through the end of September, but there is no guarantee that this will occur.

EB-2: China

EB-2 China will advance by less than one month to March 1, 2013 in June. The State Department noted that the EB-2 China category should continue to advance slowly and will probably exhaust its per-country limit before the end of the year.

EB-3: China

EB-3 China’s final action date of October 1, 2014 will continue to apply in June. As a result of a significant EB-3 downgrade volume, retrogression in this category is possible in the final months of the fiscal year.

EB-2: Worldwide

The State Department noted that the EB-2 category has experienced significant usage, and stated with certainty that a final action cut-off date will be imposed for the EB-2 Rest of the World category in August—or even as early as July. This cut-off date, once imposed, should remain unchanged through the end of September, with a small advancement possible in September and a return to currency in October.

EB-3: Rest of the World

The EB-3 Rest of the World category will move forward by one month in June to April 15, 2017. The State Department expects further forward movement in this category for the rest of the fiscal year.

EB-3: India

The State Department noted that the EB-3 India category will advance in June from March 25, 2005 to May 15, 2005. Continued forward movement is expected in July and August. The State Department predicts that the July cut-off date for the EB-3 India category will advance to October 15, 2005.

How This Affects You

It is highly likely that the cut-off date movement predicted by the State Department will occur. Persons seeking permanent residence through the EB process should take note of this predicted movement and plan accordingly. In particular, persons in the EB-2 Rest of the World category may wish to consider filing adjustment of status applications before the anticipated retrogression in this category occurs in July or August. Once this retrogression occurs, only persons with priority dates before the new cut-off date will be able to file such applications.

This post was written by A. James Vázquez-Azpiri of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP.

Immigration Through Investment: A Comparison of the U.S. EB-5 Program vs. the Quebec Immigrant Investor Program

There are currently many different investment immigration programs offered by countries around the world, all of which offer their own unique benefits. Two popular programs are the EB-5 Program in the United States and the Quebec Investment Immigration Program (QIIP) offered in Canada. The following comparison provides an in-depth look at the parameters of the two largest investor immigration programs in North America.

USA CANADA foreign investment comparision

Minimum Investment Amount

For the U.S. EB-5 Program, the minimum capital investment amount is USD 500,000 for an investment into a Targeted Employment Area (TEA), which is a rural area or area of high unemployment. For all other investments, a minimum of USD 1,000,000 is required. However, it is anticipated that these minimum investment amounts may increase in the near future. Applicants to the QIIP must agree to invest CAD 800,000 risk free, which will be returned after 5 years. This investment is fully guaranteed by the Quebec government.

Minimum Net Worth

While there is no minimum net worth requirement for the EB-5 program, QIIP applicants must demonstrate net worth of at least CAD 1.6 million obtained through lawful means, either alone or together with their accompanying spouse/partner. Net worth includes assets such as property, bank accounts, stocks and bonds, investments, and pension funds, among others.

Type of Investment

EB-5 investors must make an at-risk investment into a new commercial enterprise, meaning any for-profit activity formed for the ongoing conduct of lawful business; this does not include non-commercial activity such as ownership of a private residence. On the contrary, investments under the QIIP are risk free and guaranteed by the Quebec government. The minimum investment amount will either be returned in full after 5 years or can be financed by a Canadian financial institution.

Job Creation Requirement

As mentioned above, there is no job creation requirement for the QIIP. However, each EB-5 investment must create at least 10 full-time jobs for qualifying U.S. workers within two years of the investor’s admission to the U.S. as a Conditional Permanent Resident. This can be either direct job creation for 10 identifiable W-2 employees at the commercial enterprise where the investor directly made his capital investment, or it can be indirect job creation, in which jobs are shown to be created collaterally or due to investor’s capital investment into a commercial enterprise affiliated with a regional center.