It should come as no surprise that Chinese nationals make up the vast majority of EB-5 visa recipients. After all, China has the largest population in the world with over 1.3 billion citizens. In fiscal year 2014, Chinese immigrants received 9,128 out of the 10,692 visas issued. Rounding out the Top 5 were South Korea (225), Mexico (129), Taiwan (126) and Vietnam (121). Russia was the only other nation to receive more than 100 visas.

But someone appears to have spilled the beans. More nations are starting to increase their participation in the EB-5 program. Chinese immigrants received a thousand fewer visas in fiscal year 2015 (8,156). Meanwhile, Vietnam (280), Taiwan (139), and India (111) saw significant increases in visas. The non-Chinese share of visas increased to 16.5% in 2015 from 14.6% in 2014. Visas issued to citizens of Vietnam have more than doubled (a 131% increase), and Taiwan is steadily increasing their share as well.

India, however, appears to be making the greatest surge. In 2011, USCIS only issued 37 EB-5 visas to Indians. But that number jumped to 96 in 2014, and 130 visas in the first 70 days of 2016 alone! That is a 50% jump each year for the last five years. With the second largest population in world after China, it should come as no surprise that India is rising. It will be fascinating to see how this will affect the EB-5 program in the years to come.

Please contact Lee & Lee P.S. to learn more about the EB-5 Visa Program. We would be more than happy to assist you with the entire process and provide information on EB-5 projects and regional centers. Contact us today!

For more data on employment and other immigrant visas issued by USCIS, please check out the links below:

https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/law-and-policy/statistics/annual-reports/report-of-the-visa-office-2015.html

https://www.uscis.gov/tools/reports-studies/reports-and-studies