US to allot investment visa quota by end of this year

The 2015 allotment of EB-5 visas for Chinese mainland applicants is likely to be reached before the end of the 2015 fiscal year, ending in September, given the current long waiting list, according to a US agency.

EB-5, a US federal program where non-US citizens can invest in a US business in exchange for citizenship, saw one of its most active years on record to date. Savills Studley, a US commercial real estate services firm, found in its new study that total EB-5 issuance worldwide went from 8,564 visas in 2013 to 10,692 visas at the end of the 2014 fiscal year.

Of the visas issued in 2014, the Chinese mainland comprised 85.4 percent of the total (9,128 visas), as compared to all other countries and regions (1564 visas). And in 2013, The Chinese mainland accounted for 80.5 percent of total issuance (6,895 visas), a steady increase from 80.1 percent (6,124 visas) in 2012, and 69.5 percent in 2011 (2,408 visas).

Up until last year, the overall EB-5 visa quota had never been met in either an aggregate or on a per-country basis. However, in late August of 2014, the EB-5 preference category became unavailable for Chinese applications, implying that the maximum allocation of EB-5 visas for Chinese applicants had been reached for the current fiscal year.

Heidi Learner, Savills Studley's chief economist, said the extensive list of pending applications is a further indication of the program's robust demand. "The 2015 allotment of EB-5 visas for Chinese mainland applicants is likely to be reached before the end of September 2015, particularly if Chinese appetite for the visas is any indication," she says.

The current waiting list for EB-5 visas is dominated by people from the Chinese mainland. The waiting list for EB-5 applicants outside the US shows a total of 6,418 people, approximately 81 percent of whom are from China.