Our Bureau
Washington, DC
The American Green Cards pathway, known as the US EB-5 program, has witnessed a large number of Indian applicants taking part. The EB-5 Visa offers a strategic route for Indian students who want to study, work, and ultimately establish themselves in the United States.
Nevertheless, from October 1, 2023, to May 31, 2024, there was a significant decrease of 22% in EB-5 visas provided to Indian investors, resulting in only 512 visas being issued. Despite the overall yearly growth in FY2024, there was a decline observed in the program.
Following a sudden increase in visa processing in December 2023, the monthly visa issuance at the US Consulate in Mumbai, India, decreased in productivity, only processing 50-60 visas per month and issuing just four EB-5 visas in May, as reported by Invest in the USA (IIUSA), the national trade association for the EB-5 visa program.
Indian citizens applying for an EB-5 Visa can expect a processing time of 5 to 6 years. Immigrant Invest states that this timeframe consists of several months of document collection and application submission, three to four years for approval of the I-526E petition, and 6 to 12 months to obtain a Conditional Green Card.
According to data shared by the Department of State, out of the 392 EB-5 visas given to Indian applicants processed at the Mumbai Consular Office, around 23% or 120 Indian applicants who received their EB-5 visas in FY2024 are living outside of India.
Even with the decrease, India continues to be an important participant in the EB-5 visa category, along with China, Vietnam, Taiwan, and South Korea, making up almost 92% of all EB-5 visas issued until May 2024.
Additional analysis of DOS data showed that in May 2024, the number of EB-5 visas issued through consular processing reached the second-highest level of issuance in FY2024, totaling 1,222 visas for that month.
Of all the EB-5 visas granted in the first eight months of FY2024, over 1,990 were given to adjustment of status applicants within the Unreserved category out of a total of 7,173 visas issued.
