Facts About Investment Visa- EB-5 Category Visa

In 1990, the Unites States created a special category for visas, one of which is a visa to the USA called EB-5 Visa. This is an investment visa established in order to create jobs for United States citizens and help increase the flow of foreign capitol into the country. There are currently 10,000 available EB-5 visas each year.

In order to acquire a visa in this category, one must meet certain investor visa requirements. The applicant must either have established or invested in a business in the U.S. The business under question must have been founded or reconstructed after November 19, 1990. The specified amount that needs to be invested in the business is $1 million and the business itself must be successful, providing at least 10 full-time jobs for U.S. workers.

The alien must enter the U.S. no more than 180 days after receiving the investor visa and must prove that the investment he or she made was done so legally. Although the foreign investor is not required to be in the U.S. for any given period of time, he or she must show legitimate intent in becoming a resident. This means one of the following: opening a bank account, renting or buying a home, obtaining a social security number or driver’s license and/or paying taxes.

The alien granted the EB-5 visa will obtain certain privileges that are not necessarily part of other visa agreements. For example, EB-5 visa holders and all of their family members will receive a conditional green card. The visa holder and his family members can also work, live and attend school anywhere in the U.S.

To further encourage immigration via EB-5 visa category, the U.S. established a special EB-5 pilot program also known as Regional Center program. Here, foreign investor capitol is pooled by USCIS companies of the Regional Centers and thus the required investment for the investor visa is reduced to $500,000. The pilot program requires that 10 or more jobs somehow be created in the U.S. as a result of the investment. There are currently 125 Regional Centers in 36 states and between 90-95 percent of the investment visa aliens applied for were for Regional Center affiliated commercial enterprises. Hundreds of these and the non-pilot EB-5 category visas are approved by the United States each year.

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