(Click here to read and download the full report in PDF format)
Last week, the U.S. Department of State released monthly visa issuance data for February 2025, showing a 111% month-over-month increase in Reserved EB-5 visa issuance. A total of 866 EB-5 visas were issued via consular processing in February, including:
- 773 Unreserved EB-5 visas (Fisal-Year-To-Date visa issuance: 6,160),
- 51 Reserved visas under the Rural Area category (FYTD visa issuance: 98), and
- 42 Reserved visas under the High Unemployment Area category (FYTD visa issuance: 105).
In the first five months of FY2025 (October 2024 – February 2025), the State Department issued 3,204 visas to pre-RIA Chinese applicants and 496 Unreserved visas to India-born applicants.
Post-RIA applicants from Vietnam represent the largest investor group receiving Reserved EB-5 visas, with 60 visas issued so far in FY2025, including 35 for Rural and 25 for High Unemployment Areas (HUA). Additionally, a total of 50 applicants from Taiwan also received Reserved EB-5 visas during the first five months of the fiscal year.
Overview: Fiscal-Year-To-Date Usage vs FY2025 Visa Availability
During the first five months of FY2025, 53% of the available Unreserved EB-5 visas have been used via consular processing. In contrast, only 2% of the available Reserved visas for the Rural Area category and 5% for the High Unemployment Area (HUA) category have been utilized. (EB-5 visa usage via USCIS adjustment of status is not included in this report.) See Table 1 below for a summary:
In the January Visa Bulletin, the Department of State (DOS) issued a warning that cut-off dates may be necessary for the Reserved EB-5 visa categories. However, the subsequent Visa Bulletins for February, March, April and May have continued to list these categories as “Current” for all countries, with no further warnings about the potential establishment of cut-off dates.
Given that more than 90% of Reserved visas remain available for the remaining seven months of FY2025, even after a 111% increase in issuance for these categories in February, the fiscal year-to-date (FYTD) issuance volume for the Reserved categories remains low. Therefore, it is unlikely that all available set-aside visas will be used this fiscal year, and these categories are likely to remain “Current” in upcoming Visa Bulletins.
Unreserved EB-5 Visa Issuance in February FY2025 (Consular Processing Only)
In February 2025, 773 Unreserved EB-5 visas were issued via consular processing. With approximately 6,160 Unreserved visas (or 53% of the total annual allocation) already issued through consular processing alone in the first five months of FY2025, current trends suggest that the State Department is on track to fully utilize the Unreserved visa allocation by the end of the fiscal year.
See Figure 1 for monthly trends in Unreserved EB-5 visa issuance in FY2025 compared with FY2024:
Country-Specific Trends in Unreserved EB-5 Visa Issuance
A total of 3,204 Unreserved EB-5 visas were issued to Chinese applicants during the first five months of FY2025, accounting for 52% of worldwide Unreserved visa issuance. Due to the rapid pace of visa number usage, the April Visa Bulletin retrogressed the China Unreserved EB-5 final action date to January 22, 2014, a drastic 905-day retrogression.
Additionally, 496 pre-RIA Indian applicants received Unreserved EB-5 visas during the same period. Visa usage by India-born applicants is also approaching the annual limit, prompting a 792-day retrogression in the April Visa Bulletin for India’s Unreserved EB-5 final action date.
As a result, the vast majority of the remaining Unreserved visas are expected to be issued to applicants from Rest of World (ROW) countries during the remainder of FY2025.
The Montreal, Singapore, London, and Abu Dhabi consulates continue to serve as key processing hubs for Unreserved EB-5 applicants born outside those regions. See Figure 2 for additional statistics:
Reserved EB-5 Visa Issuance in February FY2025 (Consular Processing Only)
February 2025 saw a significant increase in visa issuance under both the Rural Area and High Unemployment Area (HUA) categories, with a total of 93 Reserved visas issued, a 111% increase from January 2025. Among these, 51 visas were issued under the Rural Area category, compared to 42 under the HUA category, marking the first time that monthly visa issuance for Rural surpassed that of HUA. (See Figure 3 for a visual breakdown.)
However, overall Reserved visa issuance remains low across all categories (see Table 1). Only 98 Rural Area visas and 105 HUA visas were issued in the first five months of FY2025. This translates to just 2% usage for Rural and 5% for HUA, based on annual visa availability. If the current trend continues, it is expected that Reserved visas will not be fully utilized by the end of the fiscal year, and all set-aside categories are likely to remain “Current” throughout FY2025. (The caveat is that USCIS does not publish any data on the EB-5 visa number usage via adjustment of status (AOS). If a large number of Reserved EB-5 visas were used by AOS applicants, it will alter our predictions.)
In addition, the February visa issuance data indicates whether the Reserved visas were issued to principal investors or family derivatives, offering critical insights into post-RIA visa usage and providing updated estimates on average family size, which is an important factor in forecasting future visa demand and backlog trends. As summarized in Table 2, of the 51 Rural Area visas issued in February, 17 were issued to principal investors, suggesting an average family size of 3.0 among applicants in the Rural Area category. In contrast, of the 42 HUA visas issued, 19 were issued to principal investors, indicating a smaller average family size of 2.2 for applicants in the HUA category. Overall, the February data shows that each post-RIA investor used an average of 2.6 visas via consular processing.
Country-Specific Trends in Reserved EB-5 Visa Issuance
With 60 Reserved EB-5 visas issued during the first five months of FY2025, Vietnamese applicants accounted for 30% of total Reserved visa issuance worldwide, all processed at the Ho Chi Minh City Consulate (see Figure 4). Of these, 35 visas (58%) were issued under the Rural Area category, and 25 under the HUA category.
Additionally, post-RIA applicants from Taiwan and India represent the second- and third-largest groups receiving Reserved visas so far in FY2025. A total of 50 set-aside visas were issued to Taiwanese applicants (49 under HUA and 1 under Rural), while 43 visas went to India-born applicants (14 under HUA and 29 under Rural).
Although mainland Chinese investors accounted for the majority of I-526E case filings under both the Rural Area and HUA categories, only 32 Reserved visas were issued to Chinese applicants in the first five months of FY2025 (8 under HUA and 24 under Rural).
Consular offices in other countries – including Singapore, Frankfurt, Bern, London, Bangkok, and Ankara – also began issuing Reserved EB-5 visas in February. During the first quarter of FY2025, only five consular posts were processing Reserved EB-5 visas, but by the end of February, that number had expanded to 12 consulates around the world.
(Click here to read and download the full report in PDF format)
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