NEW YORK—The United States EB-5 investor visa has become the fastest, most popular way for China’s elite—including officials who desire a backdoor out of China—to get a green card.
With a $500,000 investment required, the visa category also serves as a welcome source of fast-track money for U.S. property developers, one that has grown in volume and importance in recent years.
However, the enormous popularity of EB-5s among Chinese in particular, along with growing concerns in the United States involving applicant fraud, now threatens to slow this lucrative two-way flow.
Starting May 1, only Chinese-born investors who submitted the first step I-526 petitions before May 2013 will be processed immediately. Those who miss the deadline may now face yearslong delays.
This is the second quota retrogression delay for the EB-5 mainland Chinese-born immigration category. The first was in August last year. The Department of State has indicated that the backlog and processing times for Chinese EB-5s will continue to worsen.
Chinese are by far the most prolific users of the EB-5 visa. Other notable countries of origin for investors are few, and include Russia, Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, and Canada.
