If You Can Qualify For An EB-5 Visa, Here’s Why It’s Better Than An E-2 Visa

While the EB-5 visa and the E-2 visa are both investor visas that allow qualified applicants to live in the U.S., the EB-5 visa is a far more attractive option if you look at the reasons why the largest groups of foreign nationals migrated to the United States.

The E-2 visa, on the surface, sounds like a better deal than the EB-5 visa. Instead of investing $500,000 into an EB-5 project, entrepreneurs could invest far less into a business and qualify for the E-2 visa. So, why would investors invest more and apply for EB-5?

The answer is simple. Here’s a look at the top reasons foreign nationals sought to immigrate to the United State in 2015:

Work purposes: 1.2 million

To be with family: 1 million

Better education for their children: 990K

Safety:  250K

Of the nearly 3.5 million people who came to the U.S. intending to stay longer in the country than what they could stay on a temporary tourist or business visa, 2.24 million people came to the U.S. with a main purpose that was other than work.

Additionally, foreign nationals from 3 of the top 4 EB-5 countries: China, India, and South Korea, were particularly interested in migrating to the U.S. for better education for their kids. These three countries made up more than half (54%) of international students pursuing higher education degrees in 2016.

Immigrants coming to the U.S. in 2015 for work purposes only made up a little more than 1/3 of the people. If an investor’s intention is to come to the U.S., invest and start their own business, or to run a business in an executive or supervisory role, then the E-2 visa may be a good fit. While it does not cost $500,000, the E-2 visa does require a substantial investment and is only available to foreign nationals from certain countries.

For most EB-5 investors, their main goal is to obtain a green card in order to pursue other interests. EB-5 investors can invest in an EB-5 regional center project and take on the role of a policy adviser, meaning that they do not have day-to-day management responsibilities and can thus live, work, attend school, and travel wherever they would like. E-2 visa holders, on the other hand, must control their investment and will be tied to it. Therefore, they may be limited in where they can live and where their children can attend public school.

What’s more is that the EB-5 Program pathway leads to unconditional permanent residence or green card status and ultimately U.S. citizenship for the investor, while the E-2 visa holder must return to their home country after the completion of their business or renew their visa every few years indefinitely.

The EB-5 visa may require a higher investment, but the freedom it offers appears to be worth it. For more information about the EB-5 visa, send us a message.