Yesterday, the U.S. Department of State published the monthly Visa Bulletin for March 2023. The new monthly visa bulletin shows that, under the “unreserved” EB-5 visa category, final action date for Chinese applicants will advance 108 days in March while the cut-off date for Indian nationals will move back by 525 days in the upcoming month. Under the other three “reserved” EB-5 visa categories, all countries (including China and India) will remain “current” in March.
EB-5 FINAL ACTION DATES (CHART A)
The March Visa Bulletin revealed the following final action dates for EB-5 visa applicants:
- Applicants associated with unreserved EB-5 visa categories:
- China: July 8, 2015;
- India: June 1, 2018;
- All Other Countries: “Current”;
- Applicants associated with an EB-5 project within the reserved EB-5 visa categories:
- All Countries: “Current”;
(Chart A on the March 2023 Visa Bulletin)
EB-5 DATES FOR FILING (CHART B)
In March, the dates for filing will remain “current” for all EB-5 applicants, except for the applicants who 1) were born in China or India, and 2) invested through a regional center project or a direct project outside the “reserved” visa categories. The date for filing of these applicants will continue to be January 1, 2016 for Chinese nationals and December 8, 2019 for Indian nationals – no change from the previous Visa Bulletin.
(Chart B on the March 2023 Visa Bulletin)
FURTHER RETROGRESSION FOR INDIA
The March Visa Bulletin also included a note to shed some light on the retrogression of the EB-5 cut-off date for Indian applicants in fiscal year 2023. Overall, the India EB-5 final action date has been retrogressed by nearly 1,600 days since the beginning of FY2023. Specifically, in October 2022, the final action date of the “unreserved” EB-5 category for Indian applicants was changed from “current” to be November 8, 2019, retrogressing by 1,058 days. In March 2023, the cut-off date for India will further retrogress by another 525 days due to “higher-than-anticipated” demand.
See the full note from the March Visa Bulletin below:
G. RETROGRESSION OF THE EMPLOYMENT-BASED FIFTH (EB-5) PREFERENCE CATEGORY FINAL ACTION DATE FOR INDIA
In the October 2022 Visa Bulletin, a final action date and application filing date were established in the Employment Fifth Preference Unreserved (including C5, T5, I5, and R5) category for India to keep number use within the maximum allowed under the FY-2023 annual limit. Number use and demand has been higher than anticipated at the start of this fiscal year, so further retrogression has become necessary. For March, the final action date for the EB-5 Unreserved category for India is set at 01JUN18. The situation will be continually monitored, and any necessary adjustments made accordingly.
