US EB-5 Program: Visa issuance to Indians looking for American green cards decline by 22%

The US EB-5 visa program, which provides a route to US green cards and, eventually, permanent citizenship in the USA, has attracted a considerable amount of interest from Indian investors. While the total number of EB-5 visas given increased during the last eight months, Indian investors received much fewer of them.

Between October 1, 2023, and May 31, 2024 or FYTD 2024, a total of 7,173 EB-5 visas were issued via consular processing, marking a 42% year-over-year growth compared to the same period in FY2023.

However, after a surge in visa processing in December 2023, the monthly visa issuance to the Indians at the U.S. Consulate in Mumbai, India, showed a decline in productivity, processing only 50-60 visas per month and issuing only 4 EB-5 visas in May.

During the first eight months of FY2024 (Oct. 1, 2023 – May 31, 2024), 512 EB-5 visas were issued to Indian applicants via consular processing, representing a 22% decline year over year.

However, considering that a relatively high percentage of Indian EB-5 investors obtain their green cards through adjustment of status (AOS) with USCIS, a lower number of EB-5 visa issuances via consular processing so far in FY2024 may not necessarily indicate an overall low EB-5 visa usage among Indian applicants due to the lack of AOS data.

Data from the DOS also indicates that only 392 EB-5 visas issued to Indian applicants were processed at the Mumbai Consular Office, suggesting that 120 Indian applicants (or 23%) who received their EB-5 visas in FY2024 reside outside India.

The monthly visa issuance statistics for May 2024, shows that 1,222 EB-5 visas were issued via consular processing in that month alone, the second highest monthly visa issuance volume so far in FY2024.

Overall, a total of 7,173 EB-5 visas have been issued by the Department of State (DOS) during FYTD 2024 and more than 1,990 EB-5 visa numbers were used via adjustment of status at USCIS, all under the Unreserved category.

That is, at least 64.7% (or 9,160 visas) of total Unreserved EB-5 visas available in FY2024 has been used through May 2024, largely due to the increased productivity of visa processing at the consular offices in Guangzhou and Ho Chi Minh City, and the faster adjudication of I-485 adjustment of status applications at USCIS.

Applicants from China, Vietnam, India, Taiwan, and South Korea continue to represent the largest investor groups receiving EB-5 visas in FY2024, collectively accounting for nearly 92% of all EB-5 visa issuances in the first eight months of the current fiscal year. Notably, over 61% of the EB-5 visas issued FYTD 2024 were obtained by Chinese applicants, with nearly 4,200 EB-5 visas processed at the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou, China.

EB-5 applicants from China and Vietnam constitute the largest investor groups to have received the most EB-5 visas in FY2024, accounting for 61% and 19%, respectively, of the total visa issuance so far in the current fiscal year. Moreover, more than 58% of the EB-5 visas were processed at the U.S. Consular Office in Guangzhou, while the Ho Chi Minh City Consular Office handled over 19% of the visa issuance in FYTD 2024.