The U.S. Department of State has published the monthly Visa Bulletin for February 2021, unveiling the new EB-5 cut-off dates, the projections for EB-5 visa availability in the coming months, and National Visa Center (NVC) latest report of immigrant visa backlogs.
EB-5 FINAL ACTION DATES (CHART A)
The February Visa Bulletin revealed the following final action dates for EB-5 visa applicants:
- Mainland China: August 15, 2015;
- No movement from the January Visa Bulletin;
- Vietnam: October 1, 2017;
- Advanced 16 days from the January Visa Bulletin;
- All Other Countries: Current;
- EB-5 visa applicants not from China or Vietnam continue to be able to receive their EB-5 visa number and file an immigration visa application or adjustment of status application immediately after the approval of their I-526 petition without any delay.
(Chart A on the February Visa Bulletin)
EB-5 DATES FOR FILING (CHART B)
The dates for filing of the EB-5 visa category on the February Visa Bulletin remain unchanged from the previous Visa Bulletins:
(Chart B on the February Visa Bulletin)
USCIS also announced on its website that, in February 2021, the agency will still not accept dates for filing for adjustment of status applications of the employment-based categories. That means, qualified EB-5 applicants must continue to “use the Final Action Dates chart (Chart A) in the Department of State Visa Bulletin for February 2021” to file their adjustment of status application.
(USCIS will not accept dates for filing for employment-based AOS applications)
EB-5 VISA AVAILABILITY IN COMING MONTHS
In addition to the new cut-off dates, the February Visa Bulletin also included Department of State’s projections for the future final action date movements of the EB-5 visa category by applicant’s country of birth:
- Mainland China: No forward movement through May;
- Vietnam: Up to three weeks per month through May;
- All Other Countries: Remain as “Current”
EB-5 Waitlist at NVC
The National Visa Center (NVC) published its latest annual report on the number of visa applicants registered on file as of November 1, 2020.
The report revealed that the current EB-5 visa waitlist consists of 50,936 documentarily qualified applicants with nearly 90% (or 45,749) EB-5 visa applicants from mainland China (see below from NVC’s latest annual report):
