Foreign investors who meet the specified USCIS- United States Citizenship Immigration requirements can qualify for the EB-5 Visa program. The investor should meet the investment amount and job creation requirements to permanently settle in United States. After qualifying for the visa program, the main applicant, their spouse and their children under the age of 21 can get the permanent residency green card.

How much investment is required to qualify for the EB-5 Visa plan?

EB-5 Visa applicants are required to make $900,000 or $1.8 million investment plus the processing overhead cost, legal and filing fees into an American commercial venture. The investments can take the form of cash, inventory, secured indebtedness, cash equivalents, tangible property and equipment.

The amount of investment required can be decreased from $1.8 million to $900,000 plus the processing overhead cost, legal and filing fees, if the investment is done in commercial body located in a Targeted Employment Area (TEA). This plan should be in a rural area or any area with high unemployment rate to qualify for TEA designation. The high unemployment area can be any geographical location with an unemployment rate near to 150% of the national unemployment rate, during the time of EB-5 investment. The rural area is mostly the area location on the outskirts of city with a population of 20,000 or more.

Job Creation requirements for the EB-5 Visa Plan

According to the USCIS requirement, EB-5 investment should result in the creation of 10 full time jobs for American workers. These jobs should be created during the 2 year period after the investor receives the conditional permanent residency. In few cases, the investors can also prove that their investments help to create direct jobs for the employees who work directly with the commercial unit that receives the investment. Indirect jobs created in business supply services or goods to the EB-5 plans.

EB-5 Business units

There are various business units wherein an EB-5 applicant can invest. In common, the applicants can directly invest in a new commercial venture or any regional center. The business structure can include many forms like corporations, sole proprietorship’s, business trust, private or public owned business structure and limited or general partnerships. But all these new commercial ventures should be established only after November 29, 1990. EB-5 Visa candidates can also invest in the Regional Centers.

EB-5 Visa Requirements Abstracts

  1. $1.8 million capital investment or $900,000 for TEA plus the processing overhead cost, legal and filing fees
  2. Investment should be made for the profit of U.S. commercial ventures
  3. Investment should lead to 10 full time jobs for 2 year time period.