U.S. investor visas soaked up by Chinese

Due to a surge in Chinese participation, the U.S. for the first time is on course this fiscal year to run out of immigrant-investor visas that offer a fast track to permanent residency.

The 24-year-old EB-5 program allows for 10,000 visas to foreigners annually who invest at least $500,000 in U.S. development projects, according to the Wall Street Journal.

As of this week, the visas are unavailable to Chinese individuals until the 2015 fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.

Chinese investors have accounted for roughly 85 percent of the visas this year, according to the report.

Read more from the Wall Street Journal.