The U.S. Department of State's Visa Office has just released the visa bulletin for January 2018 (the fourth month of fiscal year 2018), announcing the cutoff date for EB-5 visa priority dates. In the fourth month of fiscal year 2018, the cutoff date has moved forward by one week to July 22, 2014. Additionally, in January 2018, visas under the Regional Center Program are temporarily frozen, with Table B remaining at October 1, 2014.
Table A – Final Action Date (FAD):
Table B – Date for Filing Applications (DFA):
For Table A, the cutoff date for the Final Action Date (FAD) has moved forward by one week to July 22.
For Table B, the DFA cutoff date remains at October 1, 2014.
Impact on EB-5 Applicants:
1. According to Table A, if your priority date is before July 22, 2014, and your I-526 has been approved, you will need to wait until after the extension on December 22, 2017, before you can attend an interview at the consulate or file an I-485 application in the U.S., at which point you can obtain your visa or green card.
2. In the new fiscal year, the immigration office has not opened Table B for all employment-based immigration categories, so it will not be possible to adjust status in advance.
Expiration of the Bill and Visa Freeze:
In this visa bulletin, there is a statement regarding the EB-5 Regional Center Program, which reads as follows:
Employment Fifth Preference Categories (I5 and R5):
The continuing resolution signed on December 7, 2017, extended this immigrant investor pilot program until December 22, 2017. The I5 and R5 visas may be issued until close of business on December 22, 2017, and may be issued for the full validity period. No I5 or R5 visas may be issued overseas, or final action taken on adjustment of status cases, after December 22, 2017.
The final action dates for the I5 and R5 categories have been listed as "Unavailable" for January. If there is legislative action extending them for FY-2018, the final action dates would immediately become "Current" for January for all countries except China-mainland born I5 and R5 which would be subject to a July 22, 2014 final action date.
The simple explanation of the above English statement is that the EB-5 Regional Center Program will expire on December 22, therefore, if the EB-5 Regional Center Program is not extended, EB-5 visas under this category will be issued only until December 22. Only if the EB-5 Regional Center Program continues to be extended after December 22 can I5 and R5 visas under the Regional Center continue to be issued. Therefore, interview notices for January 2018 are likely to be issued only after the extension of the Regional Center Program is confirmed. We will have to wait for Congress to reform or extend it.
Due to the brief extension of the EB-5 Regional Center Program, it means that the current EB-5 Regional Center policy, which allows for a $500,000 investment and convenient immigration to the U.S., has gained another two weeks of "bonus time." It is recommended that interested investors who meet the conditions submit their applications to the immigration office before the new round of the bill expires. Once the price increase proposal is passed, the $500,000 investment for immigration to the U.S. will no longer be available!