By Joey Barnett
WR Immigration has obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request new data related to the number of Form I-526E Petitions received by Fiscal Year, Beneficiary Country of Birth, and Investment Type. This shows total filings from 2022 until April 18, 2024.
The last similar data was from November 2023, providing an important update on the demand for EB-5. This information will help prospective immigrant investors especially from China and India better evaluate the “hidden backlog” of pending Form I-526E cases and will also guide regional centers and EB-5 promoters where to market.
Join WR Immigration’s Director of Visa Consulting Charlie Oppenheim and WR Partner Joey Barnett to discuss the implications of this new data during the next edition of The Bulletin – Chatting with Charlie: EB-5 Investor Outlook on September 26, 2024.
Here are five facts to know:
1. More Overall Demand for High Unemployment Area Over Rural: Through April 18, 2024, over 62% of all Form I-526Es have been in HUA. However, in FY 2024 through April 18, 2024, that number has decreased to 53%.
2. Limited Rural Demand – Except China and India: Over 86% of all rural Form I-526Es have been filed by Chinese or Indian investors.
3. China Continues Greatest Demand: Immigrant investors from China have significantly filed the most I-526Es. Below are the top 5 countries in FY 2024 through April 18, 2024.
| Country | High Unemployment Area I-526Es | Rural I-526Es |
| China | 511 | 578 |
| India | 159 | 148 |
| Taiwan | 84 | 4 |
| Vietnam | 30 | 24 |
| Korea | 36 | 1 |
| Total | 930 | 833 |
4. India Demand: A total of 464 HUA Form I-526Es have been filed by Indians, compared to 280 rural Form I-526Es.
5. Rest of World Filings: There have been 946 HUA I-526Es filed by those from countries outside of China and India. There have been 221 rural I-526Es filed by those from countries outside of China and India. This leaves room for “otherwise unused” rural visa numbers to be allocated to those from these two countries with the earliest priority dates.
I’ll be unpacking this data further in an upcoming webinar with my colleague Charlie Oppenheim.
Click here to register for our next Chatting with Charlie: EB-5 Investor Outlook on Thursday, September 26th.
You can download the data that we obtained from the FOIA below.
