Obtaining a U.S. visa through investing comes with plenty of requirements – especially patience. Recent years have seen increased wait times, but new policies could move your application up a few spots.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) estimates that there’s nearly seven years’ worth of applicants already waiting in line for an EB-5 visa. Fortunately, new changes to how they deal with applications could have you skipping past people from countries with full quotas.
Applying changes
Congress set yearly limits on how many employment visas each country can claim, but the USCIS didn’t factor that into how they worked through petitions in the past. They instead handled applications in the order they entered the system. Now, the department is looking to speed things along with a new approach that will prioritize areas with available visas.
Switching course
The department offered some clarification on how this could impact your petition:

• Backlog: USCIS will apply the new process to people already in line. This means you can benefit from the new system even though you filed under the previous method.
• Assessment: The government will count how many visas are up for grabs every month. The department will use these numbers to figure out if your application could see a benefit.
• Expedition: Asking for an expedited application won’t look any different. USCIS can still pull petitions even if the applicant is from a country that has spent their allotment of visas.

Time is a valuable commodity, and these new changes could save you plenty in your search for a U.S. visa. Understanding everything in the EB-5 program can be a daunting proposition, but knowing the process can lead to timely success.