Wasted EB-5 Visas
Breaking News! Live from IIUSA, Dallas, October 22, 2015. Charlie Oppenheim, Chief, Visa Controls Office, U.S. Department of State, announced at the IIUSA conference that 500 visas were WASTED in fiscal year 2015.
For the fiscal year 2015, 500 visas for the EB-5 category were lost because of unprepared applicants or missed interviews at the Guangzhou Consulate in China. This is a particular concern, as there is a cut off date for applicants from Mainland China.
Applicants were issued an official interview date at the Consulate. However, applicants have either postponed the interview, often for non-essential reasons, or else appeared without being adequately prepared. Required documents (provided in the official Department of State Notice to the applicant) were missing, not translated, or not in the original form. For example, required long form birth certificates/marriage certificates were missing; or police reports were outdated. As a result, 221-g denials were issued by the consulate, subsequently wasting the visa.
Unfortunately, these visas are not able to be recaptured, leaving applicants waiting months, even years, for another date. The message from the State Department was loud and clear – visa interviews should be treated as high priority, not be missed or postponed, if possible.