You're right on North Macedonia (which again needs $200k, so terrible value for the $ hence the low takers) but wrong on others. Montenegro suspended its CBI program and Panama never had one, only a residence visa which then you use to naturalize after 5 years (plus it technically doesn't permit dual citizenship although enforcement seems non-existent)
For EB-5, China and India have a waitlist but that's only in the 'unreserved' category. There are new EB-5 categories now that both reduce the investment amount required and processing can be done in a couple months now. If one really wants to immigrate and has the money, EB-5 is still the best choice by far.
> Might as well apply for an EBx at the outset instead of fiddling with an E-2 visa.
EB-5 has pre-country quotas, and for some countries the wait can be quite long (for China it's around 10 years). It also is veeerrrryyyyyy slow, even with the initial form processing taking _years_.