Friday, November 18, 2022 - The U.S. Department of State (DOS) has published the monthly Visa Bulletin for December, revealing priority dates for EB-5 visa applicants, in respective categories, for the upcoming month.
The December Visa Bulletin published final action dates and dates for filing that affect EB-5 visa applicants.
FINAL ACTION DATES FOR EMPLOYMENT-BASED PREFERENCE CASES:
On the chart below, the listing of “C” for any class indicates that the class is current and visas are available. There was no change in Final Action dates for the month of December. Applicants in Mainland China, in the unreserved category, have a final action date of March 22, 2015. Applicants in India, in the unreserved category, have a final action date of November 8, 2019. All other countries in the unreserved category remain “current”. All countries are “current” for applications filed after March 15, 2022 associated with a Rural, High Unemployment, or Infrastructure EB-5 project. The following chart describes such dates:
DATES FOR FILING OF EMPLOYMENT-BASED VISA APPLICATIONS:
There was also no change in Dates for Filing for the month of December. In December, Chart B remains “current” for all EB-5 applicants, except for applicants born in mainland China or India who invested outside the reserved visa categories. The priority date under dates for filing for these Chinese chargeable applicants is January 1, 2016, and December 8, 2019, for Indian chargeable applicants. Applicants for immigrant visas who have a priority date earlier than the application date in the chart may assemble and submit required documents to the Department of State’s National Visa Center, following receipt of notification from the National Visa Center containing detailed instructions. The application date for an oversubscribed category is the priority date of the first applicant who cannot submit documentation to the National Visa Center for an immigrant visa. If a category is designated “current,” all applicants in the relevant category may file, regardless of priority date.
EMPLOYMENT-BASED PREFERENCE ANNUAL LIMIT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2023:
Preliminary consolidated number use by State and USCIS for all of FY-2022 shows there were approximately 57,000 unused family-sponsored visa numbers. As a result, the estimated employment-based annual limit will be 197,000 for FY-2023. This means approximately 14,000 EB-5 visas will be available for potential investors and their families in FY-2023 this is 4,000 over the typical allocation of 10,000 visas. In addition, the 2022 EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act contains a clause for unused reserved EB-5 visa numbers to be carried over from the immediate prior fiscal year’s applicable limits. At the end of each fiscal year, any unused visas reserved for qualified immigrants investing in each of the categories shall remain available within the same category for the immediately succeeding fiscal year. We continue to strongly encourage new investors to file now to take advantage of the availability of set-aside visas.
If you have any questions, contact our office directly at info@firstpathway.com