I heard the Vietnamese EB-5 quota has been reached and Vietnamese investors are facing a backlog. If I apply under the “direct investment” option, how will my EB-5 process be accelerated? Do I have any other alternatives to avoid the backlog?
Answers
Bernard P Wolfsdorf
Find an EB-5 Visa Lawyer: Immigration AttorneyThere is no faster line for direct investors.
Mark AM Catam, Esq
Find an EB-5 Visa Lawyer: Immigration AttorneyDirect investment EB-5 does not accelerate your application.
Barbara Suri
Find an EB-5 Visa Lawyer: Immigration AttorneyIt seems to be taking 25 months to 32.5 months to process the initial I-526, whether it be an "direct" or "indirect" investment.
Daniel A Zeft
Find an EB-5 Visa Lawyer: Immigration AttorneyThe current immigrant visa backlog for EB-5 investors from Vietnam applies to investments in both the regional center EB-5 projects and direct EB-5 projects.
BoBi Ahn
Find an EB-5 Visa Lawyer: Immigration AttorneyThere are no advantages or accelerated processing for direct investment vs. regional center investment, and certainly you will not be able to avoid the country-based backlog by filing through direct investment. If your spouse has another nationality you can use cross chargeability, but outside of that, there is no way to avoid the country-based backlog.
Irina A. Rostova
Find an EB-5 Visa Lawyer: Immigration AttorneyA direct EB-5 visa would be subject to the same visa backlog. The best thing to do would be to try to apply as soon as you are able to.
A Olusanjo Omoniyi
Find an EB-5 Visa Lawyer: Immigration AttorneyThe backlog problem is a result of the rise in the number of petitions based on the national origin of the petitioners. It has nothing to do with whether an investor files for direct investment or through a regional center (RC). This is how the backlog with the Chinese investors became an unavoidable reality, and the same is likely to occur in the case of Vietnamese investors if the number of petitions keeps rising from Vietnam. Thus, no acceleration consideration will be given to direct investment over the RC.
Belma Demirovic Chinchoy
Find an EB-5 Visa Lawyer: Immigration AttorneyIt seems you have been misinformed; all Vietnamese nationals are subject to the same visa priority date, regardless of which type of a project they invest in.
Phuong Le
Find an EB-5 Visa Lawyer: Immigration AttorneyVery good question. Unfortunately, there is no "processing advantage" for going the direct investment route. I would also advise to reconsider whether this is the best option because although you may get maximum profits as an equity owner of your business, you are also absorbing maximum risk. Some other strategies our Vietnamese clients are considering include the L-1 option for qualified applicants.
Jinhee Wilde
Find an EB-5 Visa Lawyer: Immigration AttorneyThere is no guarantee that your application could be accelerated if you do direct EB-5. Also, visa number backlog applies to all Vietnamese nationals, not just to regional center EB-5 applicants, as the per-country quota applies to all EB-5 category of visas.
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