What is the current waiting time for new EB-5 investors from India?

The waiting period has not significantly changed for Indian nationals. As a result, any I-526 now will likely be of the same pace with the current period of 24 to 26 months. The presumption that retrogression is already in place is not a fair assumption.

The Visa Bulletin is the best source for this information.

29 to 45 months for I-526 except for one expedited regional center. Then you deal with the Visa Bulletin, which is showing July 2017.

Guesstimate: About seven to eight years.

It is expected that on July 1, 2019, the India cut-off date will be May 17, 2017. On the surface this is not alarming but if you couple that with the extended I-526 approval times we are currently experiencing and the time it will take for you to wait due to the retrogression, our guesstimate of the best case scenario is 3.5 to 4 years. Given that a top-ranking official from USCIS just recently predicted over eight years to obtain a conditional green card for new applicants who are born in India does make the possibility of longer than four years a distinct possibility. I wish we could give you a more definite answer but I think given the type and quality of the data we have this is the best we can do.

No one knows the actual waiting line if you file today. In May 2019, the State Department unofficially indicated that if there are no changes to the law, the waiting line could be over eight years for EB-5. They also indicated that the EB-3 waiting line is "more than 50 years." In reality neither of these will be precisely accurate because there are too many variables to predict that far ahead, and second, we hope there will be new legislation to remove derivatives from the count. If you want to immigrate file soon and get your place in the waiting line, look at other short-term options such as an H-1B and expect a wait of at least seven to eight years, based on estimates. Then let&#39s hope we see changes soon.

If this retrogression holds, there may not be much, if any, additional waits, because the determination is based on the date of filing the I-526 petition, and the processing time for that is currently longer than the retrogression! If the retrogression gets worse, there could be a wait of several years after I-526 approval (maybe as many as 6.5).

It&#39s hard to know the precise time it will take for Indian investors to qualify for conditional lawful permanent residency, but it could take at least anywhere from four to seven years, or even longer based upon current rejections. It&#39s impossible to know for sure, given the fact that some of the pending EB-5 petitions on Form I-526 will be denied, some will be withdrawn and some applicants will qualify in the interim on an alternative basis. The one thing for sure is, the sooner you file, the sooner you&#39ll be able to obtain your conditional lawful permanent residency. Furthermore, there&#39s always the possibility that Congress will increase the EB-5 numbers under the quota.

Currently, the I-526 adjudication time is approximately two years. Once that is approved, if the Indian nationals are still subject to the priority date, it could be another two years after I-526 approval before Indian nationals can file for their immigrant visa.

God knows! As you may know the processing times change from one month to another. According to today&#39s processing times, you have to plan between 30 to 45 months.

If you file your I-526 today, it will take USCIS between 12 to 28 months to approve your case. So if the backlog from India for EB-5 is 12-24 months behind, it should not matter to you and you should not delay your green card. If the backlog gets older than 24 months, then those who file in the future might have a longer wait.

The best answer: No one knows. Likely two to four years.

Impossible to say exactly since it&#39s a rolling forecast, but based on Charlie Oppenheimer&#39s estimate in May 2019, about 8.6 years isn&#39t out of the question.