The National Visa Center (NVC) has published its annual report on immigrant visa applicants in the family-sponsored and employment-based and employment-based preferences registered at the NVC through November 1,2016. The report, compiled at the request of the Department of State, presents the totals number of applicants on the waiting list in the various numerically-limited immigrant categories. Applications for adjustment of status under INA 245 which are pending at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) are not included in the tabulation of the immigrant waiting list data. As such, the following figures only reflect petitions which the Department of State has received, and do not include the significant number of applications held with the USCIS Offices. In June 2016, USCIS publishes Q2 statitics indicating that there were currently over 20,000 I-526 petitions pending with USCIS.
According to the report, as of November 1, 2016 there were a total of 24,629 applicants for the 5th employment-based category on the waiting list at the National Visa Center representing a nearly 40% year-over-year increase from November 2015. Of the 24,629 EB-5 applicants on the waiting list 22,910 are from Mainland-China representing 93% of all applicants . Visa availability remains “current” for all countries except Mainland-China. At this time last year there were 15,830 Mainland-Chinese applicants on the waiting list at NVC, or 45% less than the current total.
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