United States Citizenship and Immigration Services allots 10,000 visas to the EB-5 program each year. Thie number of EB-5 visas in a given fiscal year cannot exceed 7.1% of the total allotment for Employment Based visas.
From there, it gets a bit more complicated. Within the 10,000 EB-5 visas, additional allocations are made based upon project type and the country of the investor.
Breakdown of the 10,000 EB-5 Visas
The annual cap of approximately 10,000 EB-5 visas includes both principal applicants and their dependent family members (spouse and unmarried children under 21). These visas are now divided into two main categories:
1. Reserved Visas – 32% of Total
The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act (RIA) introduced set-aside categories to encourage investment in underserved areas. A total of 32% of the annual EB-5 visas are now “reserved” for investors in specific types of projects:
- Rural Areas – 20% of total visas
- High-Unemployment Areas – 10% of total visas
- Infrastructure Projects – 2% of total visas
These reserved categories are designed to stimulate economic development in targeted regions. If visas in these categories are unused in a given fiscal year, they carry over and are added to the same category in the following fiscal year. If still unused, visas may carry over again for the next fiscal year, however, this time they move to the unreserved category. The visas do not carry over again to the next fiscal year and would be lost if they are not used.
2. Unreserved Visas – 68% of Total
The remaining 68% of EB-5 visas are unreserved and available to investors in any qualifying EB-5 project, regardless of its location or type. To date, the unreserved category has largely been used to address significant pre-RIA backlogs for Chinese and Indian investors.
In fiscal year 2024, the U.S. Department of State announced that all unreserved EB-5 visas were issued.
Country Caps and Global Allocation
In addition to the division by investment type, EB-5 visas are also subject to a per-country cap of 7%. This means that, in principle, no single country can receive more than 7% of the total available EB-5 visas in a fiscal year. However, if there are unused visas from countries with lower demand, they can be reallocated to countries with higher demand.
For example, for fiscal year 2023, more than half of all EB-5 visas were issued to Chinese petitioners and their derivatives. India received he second most EB-5 visas that year, also exceeding the 7% threshold.
Understanding how EB-5 visas are allocated can be helpful for prospective investors in selecting the best path forward for their needs.
The above article is intended for informational purposes only and is not based upon any specific set of facts. Anyone with specific questions or issues concerning EB-5 or H1-B should consult an immigration attorney.
