The US Department of State recently announced that there would be no more EB-5 US investor visa spaces available for Chinese nationals until after October 1, prompting experts to suggest that applicants turn to other immigration categories.

Charles Oppenheimer, chief of Visa Control for the US Department of State's Immigrant Visa Control and Reporting Division, said at the annual conference of American Immigration Lawyers Association that no more EB-5 places would be available to Chinese up until September 30, the end of the present fiscal year, and that a new annual quota is issued on October 1.

According to the Association to Invest in the USA (IIUSA), 6,900 visas were issued to Chinese nationals out of a total of 8,567 EB-5 visas issued in 2012-13 and the number of applicants was 50 percent higher this year than the same period last year, and was mostly driven by Chinese applicants.

The EB-5 program is limited to 10,000 visas per year, a number that includes visas granted to an investor's spouse and children. Investors can either invest at least $1 million to be eligible, or they can invest $500,000 to Regional Center or Targeted Employment Areas (TEA) based on the Pilot Program, creating or preserving at least 10 full-time jobs for qualifying US workers within two years.

American immigration officials have predicted that Chinese who apply for EB-5 visas will have to wait in line starting from April or May 2015, as massive demand from Chinese will surpass the 7 percent quota for applicants from one country.

Zherui Zhang, an immigration lawyer in the US, said that it would take more than three to four years to obtain an EB-5 visa, since the waiting period is expected to be roughly two years and the usual processing time is about 1.5-2 years.

More EB-5 applications have been filed since Canada ended a similar program last month, and the increasing demand extended the waiting period, said Zhang.

Immigration lawyers are trying to extend the deadline of the TEA plan on September 30, 2015, which lowered the requirements for applying for an EB-5 visa, and are also promoting immigration reform and an increase in EB-5 quotas, Zhang noted.

Immigration lawyer Xiaohui Yu said that the halting of the EB-5 visa applications will have a short-term impact on Chinese families' immigration plans, but there will be no significant nor long-term effects as the number of immigration applicants will not decrease.

Both the EB-1 and L visas are good alternatives for investors, Yu said.