There are many types of wealthy individuals who seek to immigrate to the U.S. based on investments.  Are you already a business owner? Or perhaps a self-sufficient retiree? An investor looking to start a new company?  A grad student without a job offer or maybe you didn’t get picked in the H1-B lottery?  Or the alternative, on H1-B status but facing the 6-year limit? Or maybe an entrepreneur? Do you need to leave a problematic home country situation? Or perhaps you’re already in the U.S. but your employer won’t sponsor you for a green card?

Many different types of people decide to use investment as their vehicle for seeking permanent residence in the U.S.

Direct Investment in New Company

The EB-5 green card refers to employment-based, fifth preference category of immigrant visas.  The requirements for the direct-investment, traditional method are:

1. You must invest, or be in the process of investing, at least $1,000,000 in a company created after 1990.
2. Your investment must benefit the U.S. economy.
3. Your investment must create at least 10 full-time jobs for U.S. workers.
4. You must have at least a policy-making role in the business.

An EB-5 green card would be a good option for you if you own foreign businesses, you’ve run businesses before, and/or you’re interested in managing a business.  If you want to maximize control of your new company and try to maximize profits, starting your own direct investment company could be the right EB-5 option for you.

Regional Centers Program

If you would like to invest less money or not be as involved in the day-to-day running of a business, you can invest a minimum of $500,000 if it goes to a Targeted Employment Area (TEA) under the authority of the Immigrant Investor Pilot Program. That’s also known as the EB-5 Regional Center program.

Moreover, the 10 jobs for U.S. workers can be created directly or indirectly, so it is a little more flexible because you do not directly need to employ 10 people. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) designates different private and government agencies as a regional center, which can be an intermediary in the investment process.

The regional center investment option would be the better if you have less money available, you’re unfamiliar with running a business, or you’re not interested in directly managing your investment.  If you want to maintain geographic mobility or your business idea would not create 10 jobs, those are other reasons to go with a regional center for your EB-5 green card.

What Representation Means in the EB-5 Process

We can represent you regarding direct investment in a new company or with EB-5 regional center investment.  After you have chosen your investment project, we will perform immigration due diligence.

We will:

• Advise you about your qualifications for the EB-5 petition and immigrant visa and answer your questions about the process.

• Collect and analyze information to verify and prove the lawful source of funds, and if there’s a regional center, to trace the path of the funds to the regional center project.

• Obtain documents about any regional center project and help you evaluate them.

• Assist you with the parts of the process involving the USCIS: the I-526 Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur; consular processing or the I-485 Adjustment of Status; and I-829 Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions.

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