The U.S. is a popular immigration destination for citizens of Taiwan. Between 2013 and 2022, nearly 50,000 Taiwanese citizens gained lawful residency status in the U.S. via different routes, including the EB-5 visa route.
EB-5 visa statistics for Taiwan nationals
The EB-5 investor visa has long been attractive to citizens of Taiwan, and is seeing increased interest in recent years.
In Fiscal Year 2022, 2,746 employment-based visas, including 255 EB-5 visas, were issued to Taiwanese citizens, out of a total of 5,091 visas issued to Taiwanese citizens across all categories, according to USCIS data, placing Taiwan among the top EB-5 markets.
Similarly, in Fiscal Year 2023, 251 EB-5 visas were issued to Taiwanese citizens through consular processing, 2.95% of all EB-5 visas issued that year.
What makes EB-5 popular for Taiwan nationals?
While the EB-5 has long been popular among Taiwanese nationals, increasing regional and political tensions in Taiwan in recent years have made EB-5 and other investor visas elsewhere even more sought after by Taiwanese citizens. This mainly involves tensions with China, which sees Taiwan as part of its territory and is seeking “reunification” with the democratically run island nation.
These tensions have pushed many Taiwanese citizens to seek Plan Bs elsewhere, with the EB-5 investor visa being a popular option for the nearly 43,000 Taiwanese HNWIS and UHNWIs.
Also, Taiwan boasts a thriving industrial economy, with GDP per capita of nearly $34,000 (nearly four times higher than the average of the Asia Pacific region, making Taiwanese citizens better positioned, in a financial sense, to pursue the EB-5 visa.)
Ability to perform concurrent filing, which means declaring the investment and applying for the green card at the same time for new investors, is another benefit for Taiwanese citizens seeking EB-5 visas.
Advantages for Taiwanese EB-5 investors
For many Southeast Asian investors, particularly Chinese and Vietnamese nationals, one of the major obstacles often incurred is the transfer of the funds out of their home jurisdictions to the U.S. due to stringent capital control regulations in their countries.
In Taiwan, this is not the case. As a flourishing market-based economy, there are little restrictions on outflow of foreign currency in Taiwan, making the process of transferring and proving the source of funds for their EB-5 investments a relatively straightforward one.
What does the future hold for Taiwanese EB-5 investors?
Relationships between the U.S. and Taiwan have historically been very solid. The U.S. maintains strong trade and diplomatic ties with the country, and acts as a de facto protector of its status quo with China amidst a tense political climate in the region.
The EB-5 market is expected to continue to grow in Taiwan on the back of regional tension and strong ties with the U.S. The trend over the past few years shows an increasing number of Taiwanese people pursuing EB-5 visas, and it’s projected the growth in volume of applicants will continue well into the near and medium term.
