EB-5 Visas Issued in 2024: Highlights of the U.S. Green Card Program
December 20, 2024 · EB-5 · 11 min read
In 2024, the EB-5 immigrant investor program held to the key reforms established in 2023 while continuing to offer steady opportunities for investors, supported by several positive developments.
Through 2024, the EB-5 U.S. green card program held to the key reforms established in 2023, while continuing to offer steady opportunities for investors on the back of several positive developments. IMM Group reviews the year’s notable highlights, from EB-5 visas issued in 2024 to processing times.
Record number of EB-5 green cards issued in 2024
According to figures published by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for fiscal year 2024, 6,090 Form I-829 petitions (petitions to remove the conditions on a green card) were approved — nearly three times the 2,193 approvals in fiscal year 2023. That makes fiscal year 2024 the year with the highest number of unconditional EB-5 green cards granted in the program’s history. The approval rate also remained high, at 95%.
Approvals of Form I-526/I-526E — the petition through which an investor is classified as an EB-5 immigrant investor, the step that leads to a conditional green card — also rose sharply in fiscal year 2024, reaching 4,906, the highest level since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The increase reflects the EB-5 program’s recovery from pandemic-related disruption and its continued appeal to investors worldwide.
The number of cases processed also rose significantly in fiscal year 2024 for both Form I-829 and Form I-526/I-526E. As a result, the backlog at year-end was 20% lower than at the start of the year, reflecting USCIS’s efforts to improve processing efficiency and respond more quickly to demand from investors worldwide.
Vietnam was the second-largest recipient of EB-5 visas worldwide
Fiscal year 2024 (October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024) saw a record number of EB-5 visas issued. A total of 12,059 visas were issued through consular processing at U.S. consulates worldwide, the highest figure in the program’s history.
Vietnam remained one of the leading countries of origin, with 1,467 EB-5 visas issued, or 12% of the worldwide total. Most of those visas — 1,463 — were in the unreserved category. Fiscal year 2024 was also the first year that reserved (set-aside) EB-5 visas were issued through consular processing, with 4 visas granted in the high-unemployment-area set-aside category. All 4 went to investors from Vietnam, through the U.S. Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City.
Top 10 countries by EB-5 visas issued in the unreserved category in 2024 (Source: USCIS and IIUSA)
In a typical year, EB-5 visas left unused by countries with smaller EB-5 volumes are reallocated to oversubscribed countries such as China. Yet Vietnam, which is not oversubscribed, was issued 1,463 unreserved EB-5 visas — well above the 992-visa per-country reference allocation for 2024, and more than double the 733 issued to India, the third-ranked country, which has faced oversubscription for years. The per-country figure is a reference allocation rather than a hard ceiling: USCIS adjudicates the Form I-526E petitions, and where demand from other countries falls short, the U.S. Department of State continues issuing visas in priority-date order, which is how a country within its allocation can exceed that reference figure.
Processing times continue to shorten
Under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA), improving processing efficiency is one of the most important goals and commitments USCIS has taken on, and that commitment is now showing clear results.
Between 2019 and 2022, completed Form I-526 adjudications averaged fewer than 250 per month. In fiscal year 2024 that figure rose to 588 per month. Form I-829 adjudications averaged 533 per month over the same period, pointing to improvement across the system.
Several factors contributed: USCIS set clear processing-time targets, added adjudication staff, introduced new procedures drawn from past experience, and expanded its budget through higher filing fees and congressional funding. Together these provided the resources needed to process more cases and shorten waiting times.
The RIA’s statutory priority for rural petitions has given investors an advantage: the Act reserves 20% of the annual EB-5 visa allocation for rural projects, and USCIS takes up rural Form I-526E petitions ahead of non-rural petitions. IMM Group has seen many petitions in this category adjudicated in under 12 months, well below the 3–3.5 year average, though processing times are not guaranteed and vary case by case.
The outlook for the EB-5 program under a second Trump term
During Donald Trump’s previous term, the EB-5 program went through several significant changes but was broadly unaffected by restrictive immigration measures. It is one of the few immigration programs with support from both parties, reflecting the economic value it delivers to the United States and its alignment with the Trump administration’s economic development priorities. On that basis, even if the new administration takes a tougher line on immigration overall, the EB-5 U.S. green card program is expected to be among the less affected routes.
The RIA of 2022 also reauthorized the Regional Center Program through September 30, 2027 and strengthened oversight requirements, which has helped remove regional centers that were not operating transparently and has supported investor confidence.
Industry commentators broadly expect the program’s advantages to hold and to improve further, pointing to the significantly shorter processing times and the sharp rise in approved removal-of-conditions petitions that convert a conditional green card into an unconditional one.
The overall picture is positive, but investors should be aware of newer challenges, particularly close scrutiny at the adjudication stage. Documenting the lawful source and the path of invested funds remains the most heavily examined part of an EB-5 petition, and the scope of what USCIS may require is still being tested in the federal courts — the recent Battineni v. Mayorkas decision is one example. Careful, well-documented preparation matters more than ever.
The EB-5 program remains one of the established, mainstream routes to a U.S. green card for an investor together with a spouse and unmarried children under 21, with a minimum investment of US$800,000 in a qualifying project located in a targeted employment area (TEA) or in a qualifying infrastructure project, which must create at least 10 full-time jobs for qualifying employees. EB-5 capital must be placed at risk under U.S. law: an investor may lose part or all of the investment, and neither a return of capital nor the grant of a green card is guaranteed.
Explore the EB-5 U.S. green card projects IMM Group currently offers.
If you are considering a U.S. green card through the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, speak with an advisor at IMM Group or leave your details below. Our advisory team will walk you through the requirements and help assess the likelihood of success for your family’s case. We treat your personal data as confidential and use the information you provide only to advise on your case.
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