Chief of the Immigrant Visa Control and Reporting Division Chief Charles Oppenheim appeared at the IIUSA Market Exchange on October 22, 2015 in Dallas, Texas and shared preliminary FY2015 usage numbers as well as his predictions for FY2016.

Mr. Oppenheim reported that the preliminary data shows strong visa usage from natives of countries other than Mainland China, evidencing the program’s growth into new markets.

Unfortunately, not all of the FY 2015 visas were used. EB-5 immigration is limited to approximately 10,000 visas per fiscal year – the number varies slightly based on unused visa numbers in other categories as well as Executive priorities and Mr. Oppenheim’s discretion. Mr. Oppenheim explained that several hundred visas were not used this past year because investors missed their consular appointments or received preliminary visa denials because their applications were not complete at the time of the interview.

Mr. Oppenheim also shared his forecast for the coming months with respect to the EB-5 Mainland China final action cut-off date:

Mr. Oppenheim stated that because of the looming sunset of the Regional Center program on December 11, all immigrant visa interviews for the month of December are to be scheduled during the first 10 days of that month. Note that, due to the limitations placed on Guangzhou U.S. Consulate’s workload by Chinese New Year celebrations, stakeholders will see a relatively modest advancement of priority dates in February.