EB-5 Investment Visa is obtainable to get a Green Card

Jan. 18, 2010 - PRLog -- An EB-5 Investment Visa is one of the nicest visas as it allows the client to run your own business, and invest here in the U.S. . Additionally, their spouse and unmarried children under 21 years old can come as beneficiaries of the EB-5 Investment Visa Petition. The children will be able to go to school in the U.S. without having to get a separate student visa (as long as they are not in college.) If approved, then they can apply to Consulate Process to the U.S. If later approved, then a Conditional Green Card will be given for 2 years. The Client/Investor will later be able to apply for the permanent Green Card assuming that all of the requirements have been met. A great deal of the success of the EB-5 Investment Visa Petition is how it is prepared. The investment in the business needs to b e $1,000,000 unless it is in a targeted area. In that case, the investment can be $500,000. We can also be retained to do the incorporation.

An alternative to starting their own business, is to invest in a Regional Center. My firm can give you a list of Regional Centers that are currently in existence and the Client/Investor can choose which one he or she wants to invest in. Afterwords, my firm can prepare the EB-5 Investment Visa Petition. The Client would need to be on the Board of Directors, but would not have to do the Client could live and work in the U.S. anywhere they wanted.

The fifth and final group of aliens for whom employment-based immigrant classification is available includes employment creation immigrants, sometimes referred to as entrepreneurs. Qualifying immigrants must be seeking to enter the United States for the purpose of engaging in a new commercial enterprise: (1) which the alien has established, (2) in which the alien has invested, after November 29, 1990 (the date of enactment of the Immigration Act of 1990), or is actively in the process of investing, capital in an amount generally not less than $1,000,000; and (3) which will benefit the United States economy and create full-time employment[FN7] for no fewer than 10 United States citizens, permanent resident aliens, or other immigrants authorized to be employed in the United States, other than the entrepreneur and his or her spouse or children. The number of visas available in this category is not to exceed 7.1% of the worldwide total for employment-based immigrants.

In 1990, the United States Congress created the investor visa category, known as the EB-5 Investment Visa program, whereby immigrants are initially granted conditional residence and, after two years, permanent residence status under the conditions noted above. Under the legislation, approximately 10,000 visas are permitted to be allocated annually to immigrant investors. As part of its mandate under the Basic Pilot Program Extension and Expansion Act of 2003 the Government Accounting Office (GAO) was required to provide information regarding the EB-5 category to Congress one year after implementation of the 2003 Act. The Act required the GAO to gather information on immigrant participation in the program, including the number of participants, their countries of origin, and the number who sought U.S. citizenship. The GAO report which was ultimately prepared for Congress also includes information on the types of businesses established and their locations. After completing the investigation, the GAO found that the number of visas granted in the EB-5 Investment Visa category constituted a small fraction of the approximately 10,000 visas allocated annually by law. Since its inception in 1992 through fiscal year 2004, the Department of State issued a total of 6,024 visas to investors and their dependents under the EB-5 program. As of June 2004, only 653 investors, not including dependents, had been granted lawful permanent residency. Low participation rates in the EB-5 program have been attributed to rigorous application requirements, uncertainty as to the ability to meet the eligibility requirements for permanent residency and a failure on the part of the Department of Homeland Security to issue implementing regulations to adjudicate permanent resident applications.

In an attempt to resolve the many issues facing the EB-5 program, the USCIS has created an Investor and Regional Center Unit (IRCU) which has oversight of policy and regulation development, field guidance, form design, case auditing, and training regarding regional center adjudications and associated investor petitions within the investor program. According to the USCIS, the IRCU has been created to better coordinate the adjudication process for the EB-5 investor program in order to strengthen and protect the integrity of the program and at the same time encourage investment and employment in the United States.

The USCIS Ombudsman issued a report in 2009 making a number of recommendations for the USCIS to improve its policies and processes relating to the EB-5 immigrant visa category. The purpose of the recommendations is to stabilize and energize the program. The Ombudsman recommended that the USCIS establish a regulatory and administrative environment to promote investor confidence that the program can be relied upon. Some of the recommendations include finalizing regulations to implement the 2002 EB-5 legislation and the issuance of standard operating procedures for Form I-526 (Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur) and Form I-829 (Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions).

Employment-based visas must be made available, in a number not to exceed 7.1% of the worldwide level, to qualified immigrants seeking to enter the United States for the purpose of engaging in a new commercial enterprise (including a limited partnership): (1) in which the alien has invested (after November 29, 1990, the date of enactment of the Immigration Act of 1990), or is actively in the process of investing, capital in an amount as specified by law, and (2) which will benefit the United States economy and create full-time employment for no fewer than 10 United States citizens, permanent resident aliens, or other immigrants authorized to be employed in the United States, other than the entrepreneur and his or her spouse or children. Investors are not subject to the labor certification requirements of INA § 212(a)(5)(A) [8 USCA § 1182(a)(5)(A)].

The term “full-time employment” means employment in a position that requires at least 35 hours of service per week at any time, regardless of who fills the position. An alien is classifiable as a fifth preference employment creation immigrant if the consular officer has received from the USCIS an approved petition to accord such status, or official notification of such an approval, and the consular officer is satisfied that the alien is within the class described. Alien entrepreneurs must submit petitions to the USCIS Center having jurisdiction over the area in which the commercial enterprise is doing business, not in the area where the enterprise is established.

At least 3,000 of the visas made available under this provision in each fiscal year must be reserved for qualified immigrants who invest in a new commercial enterprise which will create employment in a targeted employment area. “Targeted employment area” means, at the time of the investment, a rural area or an area which has experienced high unemployment equal to at least 150% of the national average. “Rural area” means any area other than an area within a metropolitan statistical area or within the outer boundary of any city or town having a population of 20,000 or more, based on the most recent decennial census of the United States.

Generally, the amount of capital required to be invested by the alien is $1 million; the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of State, may from time to time prescribe regulations increasing this amount.

Be sure to see a qualified immigration attorney in order to apply for the EB-5 Investment Visa.

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I have been a licensed attorney since 1992. I have passed a rigorous examination and extensive experience requirements by the State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization. My firm helps with deportation, green cards, work permits, etc.