I am a Chinese citizen. My friends have waited more than six years for a EB-5 green card. I am wondering if the wait time could be reduced if I change my citizenship (i.e. gain anther passport from another country)? But my friend told me the processing time only depends on where you were born rather than the citizenship, meaning changing passport would not work. What is correct? What are my options?
Answers
Karen-Lee Pollak
Immigration attorneysUnfortunately it will not change anything if you gain another citizenship. Your friend is correct, it is based on birth country unless you are married to someone who was born in a different country.
Lynne Feldman
Immigration attorneysProcessing depends on where you were born, not citizenship, but if your spouse was born in another country you can cross-charge to that country for your priority date.
Phuong Le
Immigration attorneysIt is based on the country of birth. Otherwise, there would be a lot of new marriages or new citizenships for backlogged investors in the past few years.
Bernard P Wolfsdorf
Immigration attorneysIt is correct that the waiting line is not based on citizenship but place of birth. If you entered into a legitimate good faith marriage to someone from Taiwan, for example, and they applied together with you, then you are out of the China quota.
Fredrick W Voigtmann
Immigration attorneysThe country of chargeability for immigrant visa number allocations is the country of birth, not the country of citizenship.
Linda Liang
Immigration attorneysChange of citizenship now should not change the queue because the queue depends on the info on I-526 and it is too late to change your information when it is already approved.
Belma Demirovic Chinchoy
Immigration attorneysYour friends are correct, partially (which is pretty decent for legal advice obtained from friends). Obtaining another citizenship/passport will not speed up the process. You could get your EB-5 based green card faster through a process called cross-chargeability, if you marry someone who was not born in China.
Dale Schwartz
Immigration attorneysNo, it depends on the country where you were born. You cannot change that!
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