WHAT IS AN EB-5 VISA?

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WHAT IS AN EB-5 VISA?
The EB-5 Visa is a way to get your green card
and permanent residency through investment.
The EB-5 investor visa program enables foreigners
who make an investment in a U.S. business to
obtain a green card and become lawful permanent
residents, and eventual citizens, of the United
States. The investment can lead to a green card
for the investor to permanently live and work in
the United States with their spouse and unmarried
children under the age of 21. The EB- 5 Visa
program is operated by United States Citizenship
and Immigration Services (USCIS). The
program was established by the United States
Congress in 1990 to facilitate increased
investment in the U.S. economy.
BROKER DEALER
EB-5 visa immigrant investment requirements To
meet EB-5 investor visa requirements, foreign
investors must make an "at risk" capital
investment in a for-profit U.S. business entity.
The required investment amount is either 500,000
or 1 million, depending on which project you
invest in. If you invest in a targeted
employment area (TEA) the investment is
500,000, if you invest elsewhere the minimum
required investment is 1 million. EB-5
investments must lead to the creation of 10
fulltime U.S. jobs for at least two years.
How many EB-5 visas are issued each year? USCIS
reserves 10,000 visas for EB-5 investors each
fiscal year. This 10,000 visa quota has never
been met. There was a drastic increase in the
number of EB-5 Visa program participants in
2011, with more than 3,000 investors applying to
the program. Roughly 3,500 EB-5 visas were issued
in the 2011 fiscal year which marked an 80
percent increase from 2010. This growth can be
attributed to increased confidence in the program
due to USCIS transparency, efficiencies in the
application process, and growth in the number of
regional centers established across the United
States.
EB-5 Regional Centers EB-5 investor visa
applicants have two main investment options. They
can either invest directly or through an EB-5
Regional Center. Direct investors must find their
own investment project and must take a direct
managerial role in overseeing that project.
Direct investment is best for those who want
more hands-on control of their investment and the
project that received their investment.
EB-5 investor visa applicants can also make their
investment in an EB-5 Regional Center.
This option may be best for those who are more
interested in the immigration goals of EB-5 rather
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than obtaining a maximum return on their
investment. Regional centers receive designation
from USCIS to administer EB-5 investment
projects. Regional centers are responsible for
adhering to USCIS EB-5 program regulations. This
takes strain off of the investors so that they
are not solely responsible for meeting program
requirements. As a result, investment through
regional centers suits those who want a more
hands-off approach, where they are not
responsible for the direct management of their
investment. Roughly 90 percent of all EB-5
applicants invest through a regional center.
Job creation requirements
According to USCIS, the EB-5 investment must
preserve or create a minimum of 10
full-time positions for workers in the United
States who qualify. This creation, or
preservation, of jobs must occur within two
years of the investors conditional permanent
residency and entrance into the United States.
Jobs created in EB-5 projects are defined as
direct, indirect or induced. In the direct
investment context, the EB-5 visa applicant must
prove that the EB-5 capital resulted in the
actualization of direct jobs of employees working
directly in the business in which the investment
was made. In the regional center context, the
applicant can count direct, indirect, and
induced jobs toward the job creation requirement.
EB-5 investor visa application proccess
overview EB-5 visa applicants must follow three
general steps to obtain U.S. permanent residency
Submit I-526 petition to USCIS demonstrating that
you have made an EB-5 investment in
an Individual business that will create 10
direct fulltime U.S. jobs per investor (direct
investment) OR In a USCIS-designated regional
center where the investor may create 10 direct,
indirect and/ or induced jobs per investor.
Upon I-526 approval, the investor submits their
conditional permanent resident application
either through the filing of an I-485,
Application for Adjustment of Status, or DS-230,
Application for Immigrant Visa. This is the
petition that will confer the green card to the
investor and his eligible dependents. Lastly,
the investors must prove that all EB-5 Visa
requirements have been met at the end of the
two year conditional residency by filing the
I-829 application to remove conditions of
residency. The investor, their spouse, and their
unmarried children under the age of 21 then
become lawful permanent residents and receive
their ten year green cards.
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