Monday, November 15, 2021 - The U.S Department of State released its December 2021 Visa Bulletin today. The bulletin reported that the EB-5 cut-off dates for Regional Center visa applicants remain unchanged due to the lapse of the Regional Center Program.
The surge of EB-5 visa availability in the current fiscal year can help to significantly reduce EB-5 backlogs as soon as the Regional Center Program is reauthorized by Congress. As reported by USCIS, a total of 280,000 immigrant visas are available to the Employment-Based categories in FY2022, another record-high number. With that, approximately 19,880 immigrant visas are available to EB-5 applicants in FY2022.
EB-5 FINAL ACTION DATES (CHART A)
The December Visa Bulletin revealed the following final action dates for EB-5 visa applicants:
Applicants associated with a Regional Center project*:
- Mainland China: November 22, 2015 (Unchanged from the November Visa Bulletin);
- All Other Countries: Current.
* See below from the December Visa Bulletin regarding the final action dates of Regional Center visa applicants:
The final action dates for the I5 and R5 categories (visa applicants investing through an EB-5 Regional Center) have been listed as “Unavailable” for December. If there is legislative action extending this category for December, the final action dates would immediately become “Current” for December for all countries except China-mainland born I5 and R5, which would be subject to a November 22, 2015 final action date.