Investing for a U.S. Green Card: EB-5 Visa Availability and the Advantages of Filing Early

July 23, 2024

Since the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act (RIA) was enacted in March 2022, the EB-5 residency-by-investment program has improved steadily — most visibly in petition processing times and in EB-5 visa availability for investors and their families.

Hundreds of thousands of families have secured U.S. residency through EB-5 over the past 30 years

The EB-5 program began in 1990 to attract foreign capital, stimulate U.S. economic development, and create jobs for American workers. By the end of 2023, the EB-5 program had attracted more than US$50 billion and created more than 1.35 million jobs in the United States.

It is an established statutory route to U.S. permanent residence, with requirements set out in law and a defined process, used by hundreds of thousands of EB-5 investor families over more than 30 years.

The program requires a minimum investment of US$1,050,000, reduced to US$800,000 for a project in a targeted employment area (TEA) or an infrastructure project, together with the creation of 10 full-time jobs for qualifying employees. Most investors invest indirectly through a regional center, drawing on the center’s track record and project experience and sharing costs with other investors in the same offering. The regional center manages and monitors the capital on behalf of investors in qualifying projects. Capital in current EB-5 offerings is typically committed for around 4 years.

Beyond the capital commitment, the program sets no requirement for education, language ability, or business experience; it does not require you to run a business after you move to the United States; and it does not require an employer or family sponsor.

Once your EB-5 petition is approved and an immigrant visa is issued, you and your family receive a U.S. green card, initially on a conditional basis, which carries the following rights:

• Live, study, and work anywhere in the United States.
• Children attend public school free of charge through high school and can apply to leading U.S. universities, with access to the support available to domestic students. Tuition for permanent residents is typically about one-third of the rate charged to international students.
• Travel between your home country and the United States, subject to green card residence requirements. Permanent residents hold most rights of a U.S. citizen but cannot vote and hold no U.S. passport.
• After a minimum of 5 years as a permanent resident you may apply for U.S. naturalization if you meet the requirements. At the time of writing, the U.S. passport ranked sixth worldwide, with visa-free access to 189 destinations; passport rankings are revised regularly, so check the current index.

Why EB-5 visa availability makes this a strong time to file for U.S. permanent residence

Investors from countries where EB-5 visa numbers remain available no longer face the 5–7 year wait for an EB-5 visa that was common in earlier years. Following reported process improvements and added adjudication capacity at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), that waiting period has shortened considerably.

As reported in mid-2024, processing times for Form I-526 and Form I-526E ran to around 3 years, while some petitions tied to projects in rural targeted employment areas (TEAs) had been approved in as little as 12 months. On those figures, an investor and family could receive an EB-5 visa in as little as 1.5 years, and on average in around 3.5 years. Check current USCIS processing times before relying on these ranges.

Form I-829, filed at the later stage of the EB-5 route to remove the conditions on permanent residence, shows the same downward trend, with approvals reported in as little as 2 years.

Source: IIUSA (1,266*: excludes petitions filed after the RIA took effect in 2022; 1,453**: excludes regional center petitions filed after the RIA took effect in 2022)

Alongside the shorter processing times, data from Invest in the USA (IIUSA) shows a marked rise in approved I-526 and I-829 petitions. In the first quarter of fiscal year 2024, approved I-526 petitions rose 227% year over year. EB-5 visa issuance climbed as well: in the first four months of fiscal year 2024 (October 2023 through January 2024), 3,142 EB-5 visas were issued through consular processing, 97% more than in the same period of fiscal year 2023. Of those, more than 1,200 went to investor families from Vietnam, or 38% of EB-5 visas issued worldwide in that window.

Since July 2022, Vietnam has also been out of EB-5 visa retrogression. With no petition backlog for the country, the interruption that previously added about 2 years between I-526 approval and filing for the EB-5 visa has been removed. Check the current Department of State Visa Bulletin for the position that applies to your country of chargeability.

Taken together, these developments have made EB-5 more favorable than it has been for years. Filing while visa numbers remain available lets investors make the most of current processing times. Given sustained demand for U.S. residency, commentators expect Vietnam to return to retrogression and an EB-5 petition backlog within the next few years.

| Read more: Key information on U.S. residency by investment through the EB-5 program (EB-5 visa).

EB-5 projects selected to support the green card outcome and the prospects for repayment

IMM Group was among the first firms in Vietnam to advise on the EB-5 residency-by-investment program. Our priority has always been to select sound projects and to help investors prepare their EB-5 petitions correctly from the outset. The projects IMM Group currently presents have been through thorough due diligence, with attention to both the U.S. green card process and the prospects for repayment.

1. Vail Valley Apartments: a rural EB-5 project whose green card petitions receive priority adjudication

Vail Valley Apartments is a 242-unit upscale apartment development in Vail Valley, in the town of Avon, Colorado. The project qualifies as a rural area under the EB-5 targeted employment area (TEA) rules, and the capital is managed by the regional center EB5 Capital.

The site sits close to Vail Ski Resort, one of the best-known ski destinations in the United States. Vail Valley is also an established upscale residential community, yet it faces a housing supply shortage. The project can therefore draw on both local housing demand and year-round visitor traffic.

Read more: the Vail Valley apartments project.

2. The Whisky Hotel near the Hollywood Walk of Fame: an EB-5 project chosen with the green card process and the prospects for repayment in mind

The Whisky Hotel is a boutique hotel on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Its location near the venues for two of the world’s largest events — the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics — points to solid commercial prospects, which the developer expects to support repayment to EB-5 investors. As reported in 2024, the project was more than 90% complete, had already created enough qualifying jobs for every investor in the offering, and was expected to open in the third or fourth quarter of 2024. It has also received I-956F approval from USCIS, confirming that USCIS has approved the offering as a qualifying EB-5 investment.

Together, these factors address several of the risks that can affect the immigration petition and the invested capital. EB-5 capital must remain at risk under U.S. law, and no project structure removes that risk.

Read more: the full Whisky Hotel project profile.

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 you assess the strengths and gaps in 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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IMM Group · International investment migration advisory since 2005 — IMM Group advises only on entrepreneur and investor programs and does not accept overseas labor placement or unskilled worker cases (EB-3 and similar).