Obtain Permanent Residency In The United States
To be eligible for the EB-5 visa, you must meet the following three essential requirements:
Be able to fund a $800,000 investment into our project
Have no U.S. immigration violations or criminal background
Be able to document all investment capital is legally sourced.
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 invest in a U.S. business to obtain a green card and become lawful permanent residents, and potentially 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 21. The EB-5 visa program is operated by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The United States Congress established the program in 1990 to facilitate increased investment in the U.S. economy.
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. Depending on your project, the required investment amount is $800,000 or $1.050,000 million. If you invest in a targeted employment area (TEA), the investment is $800,000, and if you invest elsewhere, the minimum required investment is $1,050.000 million. EB-5 investments must lead to the creation of 10 full-time U.S. jobs for at least two years.
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 investment is best for those who want more hands-on control of their asset and the project that received their investment. Direct investors must find their investment project and take a direct managerial role overseeing it.
EB-5 investor visa applicants can also invest in an EB-5 Regional Center. This option may be best for those more interested in the immigration goals of EB-5 rather 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 the strain off the investors, so 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 directly managing their investment. Over 93 percent of all EB-5 visas issued in 2018 were based on investments made through a regional center.
Job Creation Requirements
According to USCIS, the EB-5 investment must preserve or create ten full-time positions for qualified workers in the United States. This creation, or preservation, of jobs, must occur within two years of the investor’s conditional permanent residency and entrance into the United States. Jobs created in EB-5 projects are defined as direct, indirect, or induced. In the immediate 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 Process Overview
EB-5 visa applicants must follow three general steps to obtain U.S. permanent residency:
1. Invest in an individual business that will create ten direct full-time U.S. jobs per investor (direct investment) OR
Invest through a USCIS-designated regional center where the investor may create ten direct, indirect, and induced jobs per investor.
2. Upon I-526 approval, the investor submits their conditional permanent resident application by filing an I-485, an Application for Adjustment of Status, or DS-260, an Application for an Immigrant Visa. This petition will confer the green card to the investor and his eligible dependents.
3. Lastly, the investors must prove that all EB-5 requirements have been met at the end of the two-year conditional residency by filing the I-829 application to remove residency conditions. The investor, their spouse, and their unmarried children under 21 become lawful permanent residents and receive their ten-year green cards.