The United States is the most popular destination for international migrants. In 2021 alone more than 20 million people applied for a green card but only 50,000 were issued.
This shows how tough it can be, however, there’s some good news for those that can afford it.
In 1992 congress created a program where foreign investors could obtain EB-5 visas, this allows investors investing in the right sector to get green cards for themselves and even some of their dependents.
With that said, let’s talk about the requirements of getting a green card through investment!
What is EB-5?
In 1990 congress came up with the EB-5 program in order to promote the American economy by allowing foreign investors to create jobs and invest in the United States.
The Immigrant Investor Program was then set up by Congress in 1992 to provide EB-5 visas to participants who invest in commercial companies linked with regional centres that have been approved by the United States Citizens and Immigration Service (USCIS) based on plans for economic growth.
It’s encouraging to foreign investors because not only do you secure a green card for yourself but for your spouse and children under the age of 21.
What Are The EB-5 Requirements?
You can make use of a consulting firm like EB5visainvestments.com for more enquiries on how to get a green card through investments, but here are some of the requirements an individual has to meet in order to qualify for an EB-5 visa these include:
Meeting The Minimum Capital Amount
There is a set capital amount an investor needs to meet before he can qualify for a green card. This figure is a 1 million dollar investment in a non-TEA or for a Targeted Employment Area – $500,000.
Targeted Employment Areas as the name reads are areas where the government has a high interest in boosting employment; they could either be rural areas or areas with high unemployment rates.
An area must have an unemployment rate of at least 150 percent of the national unemployment rate to qualify as a high-unemployment TEA.
A rural TEA must be located outside of a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) and cannot be located within a city with a population of more than 20,000 people to qualify.
Any organization set up with the investment must operate within these areas.
Source of Funds
The source of the investment made must be legally acquired. It can come from any of the following: securities, loans, bank account deposits, stocks, salaried income, and any other lawful source.
Job Creation
The USCIS requires that an EB-5 applicant needs to prove clearly that the investment made has created and sustained 10 full-time jobs for workers in the United States.
The jobs must be created within 2 years of the applicant receiving his or her permanent residence.
For a direct EB-5 investment the applicant has to show that his investment has directly resulted in the creation of direct jobs for employees working directly under the commercial organization receiving the investment.
Whereas investors in a regional center have to cite 10 full-time jobs either induced, direct or indirect that came about as a result of their investment.
Indirect jobs are jobs created in businesses that supply the EB-5 initiative. Induced jobs on the other hand are jobs that are established in the larger community as a result of the spending done by EB-5 project employees.
Other Requirements
The enterprise into which the investment is done must be a “for-profit “ organization that was created after the year 1990. In simpler terms, you can not invest in non-profit organizations or any organization created before the introduction of the EB-5 initiative by congress in 1990.
The investment that is made must be a “for risk” investment; this means that there should be no capital guarantee that an investor would get his investment back.
The last requirement is that the investment that is made should either be made into an organization set up by the investor or a regional care centre.
As regards the timeline of getting an EB-5 Visa from the period you submit your application to the USCIS, the procedure for acquiring an EB-5 Visa takes 13 months on average.
It’s very important that an EB-5 applicant contacts and hires a legal representative to properly navigate through the application process.
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