UP TO
10,000
visas are set aside annually for EB-5 investors
20%
set aside for rural investments
What is EB-5?
The EB-5 program (Employment Based, 5th Category) was enacted by Congress in 1990 to facilitate access to foreign capital for job-creating companies and projects in the United States. The EB-5 visa program is operated by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a division of the Department of Homeland Security, and enables foreigners who make an investment in a U.S. business to obtain a green card and become lawful permanent residents. The goals of the program are to spur economic growth and to promote job creation, in particular in undercapitalized areas.
To obtain an EB-5 Visa, individuals must invest $1,050,000 (or $800,000 if the investment is made in a project located within a Targeted Employment Area) in a job-creating enterprise that is creating or preserving at least 10 jobs for U.S. workers. EB-5 Investments may be made directly into a project or through a Regional Center.
How States Are Creating Economic Vitality with EB-5
Pine State Regional Center’s CEO, Sebastian Stubbe, joins the EB-5 Investors Podcast and host Ali Jahangiri to talk about the opportunities EB-5 investments are providing with job-creating projects across multiple industries and sectors, particularly construction, manufacturing, and infrastructure in Arkansas.
What Is a Regional Center?
The Regional Center program allows federally authorized “regional centers” to pool EB-5 visa applicants’ investments to exponentially fuel U.S. local and regional economies with projects that create and save thousands of American jobs. Regional centers help EB-5 investors and project developers because they lessen the difficulty of meeting qualifying job creation requirements under the EB-5 program rules. With regional center-sponsored projects, the applicant can count direct, indirect, and induced jobs toward the job creation requirement. Indirect and induced jobs are demonstrated by mathematical formulas which measure the economic impact of the EB-5 investment. An additional advantage is that investors in a new commercial enterprise affiliated with a regional center need not be involved in the day-to-day management of the business.
USCIS ESTIMATES OVER
$1.5 Billion
in foreign investor capital raised by EB-5
What is the New EB-5 Law?
On March 15, 2022, President Biden signed a sweeping federal spending package in which the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA) was included. With the bill’s passage, the EB-5 Regional Center Program received a five-year reauthorization, the first such long-term reauthorization since 2015, and much-needed integrity reforms.
Some of the key components of the RIA include:
- If you invest in a targeted employment area (TEA) the investment is $800,000, and if you invest elsewhere the minimum required investment is $1,050,000.
- Among other integrity reforms, the RIA demands that regional centers only have “good faith” actors involved, that regional centers are regularly audited, and that project exemplars be filed before investors can submit their petitions. This will bring more protection and transparency.
- The RIA mandates that investors in rural TEA projects must be given prioritized processing over investors in non-rural projects.
- A certain portion of the annually available EB-5 visas have to be set aside for rural projects (20%), high unemployment areas (10%) and infrastructure areas (2%). Moreover, unused set-aside visas carry over to add to reserves for the next year. This may be very advantageous for investors from certain countries facing potential retrogression.
- Importantly for investors already living within the United States, the RIA allows the concurrent filing of adjustment of status applications with I-526E petitions (avoiding consular visa processing).
Begin
Follow these steps to start process
- Evaluate and Select Project
- Invest $800,000 (TEA) or $1,050,000 (non-TEA)
- Work with Immigration Attorney on Source of Funds and I-526E petition
- Submit Form I-526E to USCIS
Conditional Green Card
If form I-526E is approved
- Obtain Conditional Green Card
- 2-year Conditional Status Period during which you enjoy all same rights
- Submit Form I-829 to Remove Conditional Status
- Return of Capital
Permanent Green Card
If form I-829 is approved
- Obtain Permanent Green Card
- 3-year Waiting Period
- Right to apply for US Citizenship
Benefits of the EB-5 Program
Here are just a few benefits of this program:
- No language, minimum education, or sponsor requirements
- With qualifying investments, investors may limit their investment to $800,000
- Investors may live and work anywhere in the United States after receiving the conditional green card for the investment
- No business or management experience requiremed; the investments are managed by professionals
- If the foreign investor invests in a Regional Center-sponsored project approved by USCIS, both direct, indirect and induced jobs may be used to satisfy the job creation requirements giving additional security to the investor.
Visit USCIS.gov for more information.
Serving With a Purpose
The EB-5 program provides capital to businesses, jobs to our communities, and permanent residency to foreign investors. We match foreign investors seeking permanent U.S. residency with sound investments with strong potential for creating the requisite jobs.