Vietnam EB-5 Retrogression Now a Reality: 5 Things to Know

By: Bernard P. Wolfsdorf, ABIL Lawyer; Senior Associate Robert J. Blanco and Partner Joseph Barnett
​Wolfsdorf Immigration Blog

As predicted in our previous blog, Vietnam retrogression has occurred in the May 2018 Visa Bulletin, and now, only Vietnamese EB-5 applicants who filed before July 22, 2014 will be eligible to receive an EB-5 immigrant visa.   Here are five things to know about this new development:

1.  Update in Visa Bulletin. The May 2018 Visa Bulletin indicates:
​
Continued heavy applicant demand will result in the Vietnam Employment Fifth preference (EB-5) category reaching the per-country annual limit during April.  As a result it has been necessary to impose a final action date on this preference for the month of May to control number use for the remainder of the fiscal year.   It can be expected that the Vietnam Employment Fifth preference category will remain subject to a final action date for the foreseeable future.

2.  New Allotment of Visas in October 2018. Starting October 1, 2018, the beginning of Fiscal Year 2019, a new allocation of EB-5 visas will be provided.  The critical question is what the Final Action Date will be.  We expect it to be to be sometime in 2015 or 2016, which would result in a two to three year wait time for Vietnamese EB-5 cases.

3.  How “Rest of World” Filings Affect Vietnamese Waiting Line. When two countries have a Final Action Date for the same visa category, U.S. law requires any unused visa numbers to be allocated in order of priority date, regardless of country of origin.  Because there are a significant number of Chinese EB-5 visa applicants in front of more recent Vietnamese I-526 applicants, any additional filings by those from “rest of world” that reduces the number of visas available to Chinese will also increase the waiting line for Vietnamese.

4.  Should I-526s be Filed? With new regulations likely to be finalized soon, Vietnamese applicants are strongly urged to file now to secure their place in the waiting line.  Otherwise, they may have to pay the increased investment amount of over $1 million, and endure an even longer waiting line.

​5.  What Country is Next? The next big question is which country will be next –  India, Korea and Brazil?  All appear to be potential candidates for the establishment of a Final Action Date after their 696-annual visa quota is used (about 250 families each).  See our past blogs’ warning.