On December 11, 2020, the Department of State hosted an outreach event with AILA's State Department Liaison Committee and addressed a broad range of visa-related questions presented by the Committee.  

Due to a number of factors, EB-5 number usage in China has steadily decreased from 2015 through the present (FY 2015: 7616, FY 2016: 7516, FY 2017: 6,833, FY 2018: 4,642, FY 2019: 3,894). With the late January 2020 suspension in routine visa processing in China, we would expect the EB-5 issuances to have declined even further in FY 2020. Based on DOS published statistics, the seven EB-5 investor visas that were issued in Guangzhou in January 2020 were the last EB-5 visas to be issued at that post for FY 2020. Please advise if DOS has plans to resume EB-5 processing in Guangzhou in the foreseeable future. 

As post-specific conditions permit, and after meeting demand for services to U.S. citizens, our missions will phase in processing some routine immigrant and nonimmigrant visa cases. Posts that process immigrant visa applications, such as Consulate General Guangzhou, will prioritize Immediate Relative family members of U.S. citizens, including intercountry adoptions, fiancé(e)s of U.S. citizens, and certain Special Immigrant Visa applications. Consulate General Guangzhou will resume adjudicating all routine nonimmigrant and immigrant visa cases only when adequate resources are available, and it is safe to do so. 

Presidential Proclamation 10014 (PP 10014), which was issued on April 22, 2020, specifically exempted EB-5 visa issuance, presumably because investor visas create jobs for U.S. workers and therefore aid in the U.S. economic recovery. We recognize that the post in Guangzhou has been operating on a mission critical basis since late January 2020, and thus has reduced IV processing capacity. Although Phases Zero to One of the Diplomacy Strong framework reference that posts should prioritize cases that are exceptions to PP 10014 for prioritization, EB-5s are not specifically called out as a priority until Phase Three. How has the stated priority of encouraging EB-5 visa issuances acknowledged in PP 10014 manifested itself in Guangzhou in FY 2020? Has the COVID-19 health related ban for China impacted the prioritization of EB-5s in Guangzhou? 

Although Presidential Proclamation 10014 excepts EB-5 applicants, Presidential Proclamation 9984 does not. To limit the expenditure of limited consular resources on categories of applicants who are not eligible for visas, posts, including Consulate General Guangzhou, consider the Presidential Proclamations and prioritize services for applicants not subject to or excepted from these P.P.s, making allowances as appropriate for emergency and mission critical visa interviews for applicants who may also qualify for national interest exceptions.