Qualifying For The EB-5 Regional Center Program May Be Easier Than You Expected

How hard is it to qualify for the EB-5 Regional Center Program? What are the requirements? And key things should an investor know as they apply? See the answers below…

Qualifying may be easier than you think.

-Minimum age: 18 years or older (Must be able to sign legal contracts)

-Country of birth: Any other than those restricted under the U.S. Travel Ban

-Education level: No restrictions

-Language: No restrictions

-Occupation: No restrictions (Can also be retired, a full-time investor, or a student)

-Managerial skills: No requirement

-Minimum investment amount: The current minimum investment amount for a targeted employment area project is $500,000. This will increase to $900,000 on November 21.

-Source of funds: Must come from lawful sources and must come from only the principal investor, however, the principal investor can be gifted the funds (income, sale of assets, loan, inheritance, investments, any cash equivalents or equipment, to name a few common examples of sources)

-Multiple visas: Applicant can be currently residing in the U.S. under another visa category

Probable Disqualifiers:

• Convicted of a crime in any region
• Being a member of the communist party
• Lying on the immigration application or in the interview
• Previous denial of a U.S. green card
• Health issues that could pose a risk to others

The EB-5 Regional Center Program requirements that EB-5 Professionals can assist with:

A regional center team can provide the necessary documentation for the EB-5 applications as well as walk an investor through the construction process, guiding them on managerial requirements (policy-maker is a common way to fulfill this program requirement), the targeted employment area designation, and their job-creation methodology (an investor must be credited with creating 10 full-time jobs for American workers).

To further investigate a regional center’s project claims, consulting with a securities attorney can help. An EB-5 securities attorney can make certain that the EB-5 investment and business project are structured appropriately and are compliant with regulations.

Other EB-5 professionals can be hired to conduct risk analyses of the project, if needed.

What key things should an investor know as they apply to the EB-5 Regional Center Program?

– Only the EB-5 investor, their spouse and their unmarried children under the age of 21 years may obtain visas under the principal’s application.

– They can expect to have to transfer the required amount of funds into an escrow account upon filing their I-526 Petition.

– Even though an investor’s I-526 Petition was approved, an investor must still wait until a visa becomes available before receiving one.

– They must accept that their investment will be placed at risk when investing in an EB-5 project as required by the program.

– They must sustain their investment in the project for nearly two years (if not longer, if there’s a backlog for their country. Backlogged countries investors’ funds may be redeployed).

– Their investment must credit the investor with the creation of 10 full-time jobs for American workers.

– The investor must take on a policy-making position or similarly minimal role.

– The conditions on an EB-5 investor’s green card will not be removed until they fulfill program requirements and their I-829 Petition is approved.

For more information send us a message, or fill out our free EB-5 evaluation form below.