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EB-5 INVESTORS
EB-5 INVESTMENT GREEN CARD
LEADS TO CITIZENSHIP
One of the ways to remain in America legally is to obtain "Lawful Permanent Residence," commonly referred to as "EB-5 Investment Green Card" status. There are numerous reasons why investors want to live in America. Some foreign nationals already have a lot of family members in the U.S. and others wish to escape threats of kidnapping or terrorism in their own country. Others are motivated by taxation issues or simply desire greater personal liberty by having more options to accommodate their personal life. Many individuals wish to pursue an education, make a career change, or retire in safer and more stable surroundings by obtaining a green card through a $1,000,000 to $500,000 investment.
The EB-5 Investment Green Card can be obtained by investing either $1,000,000 in your own company, or a minimum of $500,000 in a Regional Center Project to financially revive a designated geographic area of the United States. The investment must benefit the U.S. economy and create 10 new full time positions for authorized U.S. workers. If a foreign investor has a spouse and children under 21, they are automatically included in the EB-5 application for green cards.
Five thousand green cards are available each year for foreign investors who wish to live in America as Lawful Permanent Residents.To qualify for a temporary green card under EB-5, a foreigner must first invest $1 million in a commercial enterprise or a designated regional center in the United States. (The required investment drops to $500,000 for Regional Center Projects in rural areas or targeted employment areas where the unemployment rate is 1.5 times the national average.)
There are numerous reasons why investors want to live in America. Some foreign nationals already have a lot of family members in the U.S. and others wish to escape threats of kidnapping or terrorism in their own country. Others are motivated by taxation issues or simply desire greater personal liberty by having more options to accommodate their personal life. Many individuals wish to pursue an education, make a career change, or retire in safer and more stable surroundings by obtaining a green card through a $1,000,000 to $500,000 investment.
The EB-5 Investment Green Card can be obtained by investing either $1,000,000 in your own company, or a minimum of $500,000 in a Regional Center Project to financially revive a designated geographic area of the United States. The investment must benefit the U.S. economy and create 10 new full time positions for authorized U.S. workers. If a foreign investor has a spouse and children under 21, they are automatically included in the EB-5 application for green cards. Five thousand green cards are available each year for foreign investors who wish to live in America as Lawful Permanent Residents. Thus far the cap has not been exceeded.
At the end of two years, the foreign investor and immediate family qualifies for permanent residency if the venture creates or saves at least 10 full-time jobs. Three years after that, the investor can apply for U.S. citizenship. Unlike other employment and family-based green card categories, which may have multiyear backlogs, there is no quota backlog for the EB-5 investor category.
While there’s no guarantee that investors will make money on their investment, some Regional Center Projects offer investors an exit strategy, allowing them to recoup their investment at the end of a five-year holding period during which their money was at risk.
Thanks to a thirst for investment capital created by the 2009 recession and tight credit, the EB-5 program may be getting a new lease on life. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the bureau within the Department of Homeland Security that conducts background checks of foreigners who want to participate, is encouraging the Department of Homeland Security to change several of its policies and processes to “stabilize” and “energize” the program.
In addition, the USCIS has approved requests in 2009 from at least four new Florida groups to set up Regional Center Projects for EB-5 investments — a kind of geographic franchise for collecting foreign investment and funneling it into job-creating businesses.
