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You’ve heard that the EB-5 Visa Program offers a great pathway to U.S. permanent residency, but you may have a few questions about how it works?
Here are the answers to the most commonly asked EB-5 visa questions:
What do you need to be able to apply for the EB-5 visa?
1. You need a minimum of $500,000 to invest in a qualified EB-5 project located in a targeted employment area (TEA) which is a rural or high unemployment rate. If you want to invest in a qualified EB-5 project located in a high employment rate, the minimum investment amount is $1 million.
2. You must have proof that the $500,000 came from lawful sources.
3. The EB-5 project must be an at-risk investment that creates or saves 10 jobs for each EB-5 investor invested.
What choices do you have to start making now?
1. Do you want to invest in the Direct EB-5 Program and manage the day to day operations of your own business or do you want to invest in the Regional Center Program and let the regional center handle the management responsibilities?
2. What type of business do you want to invest in? (The funds must be invested, they cannot sit in a bank account or be used to buy a personal residence.)
3. Have you consulted with an EB-5 immigration attorney? They will assist you with project due diligence and they will file your EB-5 Program I-526 Immigrant Petition for Alien Entrepreneur.
What types of jobs must I be credited with creating?
The answer to this question depends on whether you’ve invested in the Direct Program or the Regional Center Program.
Direct Program investors must create 10 full-time direct jobs for American workers. For example, a W-2 employee such as a restaurant manager or a hotel concierge employee are considered direct jobs.
Investors in the Regional Center Program can also count direct jobs, but they also have the added benefit of being able to count indirect and induced job creation. Indirect job creation are jobs such as vendors and suppliers. Induced job creation are jobs that are created as a result of the EB-5 project bringing work into a local economy. For example, if the EB-5 project is a hotel development, the creation of a nearby market to cater to the influx of people working and using the hotel could be counted toward the total jobs an investor needs to be credited with.
How can investors show proof of job creation?
If an investor is counting direct job creation, they can show payroll statements. If they are showing proof of indirect or induced job creation, submitting the projects job creation methodology, economic reports and forecasts can be sufficient.
Additionally, if you invested in a troubled business, you may be able to count saved jobs towards your job creation total.
Any other information should you know?
Some projects require investors to be accredited investors. This means that an investor either has to have a net worth over $1 million or have made over $200k (over $300k if joint income with spouse) in the last two consecutive years as well as an expectation to make that amount in the current year.
Any tips?
Invest as early as possible. New regulations that increase the EB-5 minimum investment amount from $500k to $1.35 million (and from $1 million to $1.8 million) could go into effect without notice. Lock in your EB-5 spot to ensure that you are not affected by any of these program reforms.
For more information about the EB-5 Visa Program, send us a message.
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