How many EB-5 visas are granted by the USCIS each year?

This is an excellent question. In fiscal year 2011-12, over 6100 visas were approved for EB 5 purposes. Note that these visas include the investor as well as immediate family. There has been a growing demand for positions in the EB 5 program notwithstanding the inherent risk associated therein. Some countries do not have a choice for their nationals to immigrate to the US but to chose EB 5. We believe that the quota needs to be doubled sooner than later to ensure no retrogression in this very worthwhile category.

The statistics of EB5 visas granted are attached. As far as the visas, the State Department would have to issue that information.

US Citizenship and immigration Services just recently published that information. You can find it at: http://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/Outreach/Upcoming%20National%20Engagements/Upcoming%20National%20Engagement%20Pages/2012%20Events/May%202012/EB-5Stats.pdf

As you noted, there are 10,000 visa numbers set aside for EB-5 - this includes the principal investor and his/her spouse and children under 21. Up to 2012, these numbers were not fully used. However, USCIS and the State Department are predicting that for FY 2013, the current year, they are expecting the visa number quota to reach by mid-2013, sooner for Mainland Chinese as there are per country quota as well.

USCIS has never reached anywhere close to the 10,000. It varies every year, but no year has come close even to 9,000. The rate of approval varies too. On average it is doing about 60% approval; about 25% denial; and about 15% in the process.

The number of issued visas varies year to year. There was a noticeable decrease a few years ago as a result of the recession in the U.S., subprime mortgage crisis, and related economic matters. This fiscal year will likely be a record year in terms of issued visa. I believe they are estimating issuing over 6,000 visas, and at the current pace, it is likely that Chinese investors will max out their quota and there might be a waiting time for investors from that country.

The assumption is that in 2013, the 10,000 will be issued.

First, it should be noted that the number of EB-5 (I-526) petitions approved is generally different than the numbers of actual visas granted by the Department of State. This is because obtaining permanent residency is a two step process which involves a USCIS approval and then a visa interview at a U.S. Consulate or adjustment of status in the U.S. Interest in EB-5 has been growing each year. the number of I-526 approvals have more than doubled in the past year (3,002 vs. 1,563 in 2011) and the approval rate has dropped 10% to 79% from 89% in 2010. Also of interest, is the possibility that we may soon see backlogs in the EB-5 visas allocated to Chinese nationals according to the Department of State (DOS) Visa bulletin. Notably we have never reached the cap of 10,000 visas. To view the statistics check www.uscis.gov/USCIS/.../EB-5%20Investor%20Pilot%20Program.pdf. The number of visas issued would need to be provided by the DOS.

There are 10,000 EB5 visas issued each year. The EB5 visa numbers include not only the principal investor but also the family members which may include the spouse and minor children. There are per country limits of how many EB5 visas are issued.Therefore if the are more EB5 investors and family members Applying from a particular country, than are available for that country, then there will be delays for those investors and family members in obtaining there conditional permanent residency. The Demand is Greater than the Supply. For instance,the greatest number of EB5 investors are from China and the numbers are substantially increasing. As a result,there will be delays for the Chinese EB5 investors and there family members in being able to Apply for conditional permanent residency.It is anticipated there will be delays for the Chinese investor starting in 2013.

Less than 3000. The number is relatively consistent but is starting to increase.

Although 10000 visas are set aside annually for EB5 investors and their family members (Spouse and unmarried children under 21), that number has not been reached in previous years.

When Congress created the EB-5 visa through the Immigration Act of 1990 it allotted 10,000 visas annually to the category. To date, this cap has never been met. Since 2008, the EB-5 visa program has grown exponentially in popularity. While EB-5 visa issuance as recently as five years ago, was in the hundreds in fiscal year 2011 it grew to over 3,000. While the cap has never been reached, if the category continues to remain popular many industry insiders predict that the cap will be met this year or in fiscal year 2013.