Visas and the queue

Worldwide level

Also called worldwide level of employment-based immigrants, 7.1 percent, EB-5 annual limit.

The worldwide level is the annual ceiling on employment based immigrant visas fixed by 8 U.S.C. 1151(d) at 140,000 plus any family sponsored numbers left unused the previous year, and EB-5 draws a number not to exceed 7.1 percent of it, which is 9,940 in a year with no spillover.

What it decides

8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(A) allots EB-5 visas in a number not to exceed 7.1 percent of such worldwide level, and 1151(d) computes that level as 140,000 plus the difference between the family sponsored visas that could have been issued in the previous fiscal year and the number actually issued. The EB-5 figure is therefore 9,940 in a floor year and larger whenever family numbers spill over. The EB-5 set-aside percentages are slices of the EB-5 number, not of the worldwide level: 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(B)(i)(I) reserves 20 percent for rural investment at item (aa), 10 percent for a designated high unemployment area at item (bb) and 2 percent for infrastructure projects at item (cc), leaving 68 percent unreserved, and under (B)(i)(II) an unused reserved number stays in its own category for the next fiscal year before falling to the general pool. A spouse and children take the same status and order of consideration under 1153(d) and each one consumes a number, so the annual allocation admits far fewer than 9,940 investors. The 7 percent per country ceiling is a separate limit in 1152(a)(2), measured against the family and employment preference totals combined.

Governed by 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(A) for the 7.1 percent share; 8 U.S.C. 1151(d)(1) and (d)(2)(C) for 140,000 plus unused family sponsored numbers; 8 U.S.C. 1153(b)(5)(B)(i)(I) items (aa) to (cc) for the reserved percentages and (B)(i)(II) items (aa) and (bb) for carryover; 8 U.S.C. 1153(d) for derivatives; 8 U.S.C. 1152(a)(2) for the per country ceiling. The 9,940 figure is arithmetic on the statutory floor rather than a published number, and any given year's actual employment based limit is announced by the Department of State, whose travel.state.gov pages block automated fetches.

Where this is explained properly

Pages here that go into worldwide level rather than mentioning it.

Related terms

Visa set-asidesThe reserved slices of each fiscal year's EB-5 visa numbers: 20 percent for investment in a rural area, 10 percent for a high unemployment area and 2 percent for infrastructure projects, so 32 percent reserved and 68 percent unreserved.
Unreserved visasThe 68 percent of each fiscal year's EB-5 visa numbers that sit outside the rural, high unemployment and infrastructure set-asides, and go to investors whose project qualifies for none of the three.
Per country limitThe 7 percent ceiling, in 8 U.S.C. 1152(a)(2), on the family and employment preference immigrant visas that natives of any single foreign state may receive in a fiscal year. It is measured against the family and employment preference totals combined rather than against each category separately, and dependent areas get 2 percent.
BacklogBacklog is the demand already waiting ahead of an investor in the same visa category, the same country of chargeability and, since the 2022 set-asides, the same reserved or unreserved pool, which must be worked through before a visa number reaches them.

Checked against primary sources on 10 August 2026. Back to the glossary