EB5 Green Card

The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program Green Card allows foreign national investors who have invested, or are actively in the process of investing, the statutorily required amount in a new commercial enterprise in the U.S. They must further demonstrate that this investment will benefit the U.S. economy by creating a requisite number of permanent, full-time jobs for qualified U.S. workers.

To become eligible for the EB-1 Investor Green Card, you must:

OR

Check My Eligibility

A troubled business is a business that’s been in existence for 2 years, has incurred losses during the 12 or 24 month period prior to the Form I-526 or I-526E, and had a loss for the same period at least equal to 20% of the company’s net worth prior to the loss.

A Targeted Employment Area or TEA is an area which is considered to be “rural” or an area that as experience a high rate of unemployment.

Rural means any area not 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.

For petitions filed after March 15, 2022, a high unemployment area is an area designated as such by the Dept. of Homeland Security under INA 203(b)(5)(B)(ii).

An EB-5 Regional Center is economic unit in the U.S., which can be public or private, which has been designated by USCIS as one that promotes economic growth, creates jobs and increases capital investment. The EB-5 Regional Centers allow EB-5 investors to pool their money, often in large infrastructure projects.

Regional Centers allow investors to invest funds through a more passive investment option where the investor is generally eligible to apply once they have invested the requisite amount. Proving job creation and economic benefit and managing the investment is the responsibility of the regional center.

To seek a green card as an immigrant investor, you must file Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur. The Form I-526 must be filed with supporting documentation which clearly demonstrates that your investments meet all requirements, such as:

1. Establishing a new commercial enterprise
2. Investing the requisite capital amount
3. Proving the investment comes from a lawful source of funds
4. Creating the requisite number of jobs
5. Demonstrating that the investor is actively participating in the business; and, where applicable
6. Creating employment within a targeted employment area

Once Form I-526 is approved, you may obtain the green card by:

1. Filing Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, if residing within the U.S. or;
2. Applying for an immigrant visa at a U.S. Consulate abroad, if residing outside the U.S.

Once the Adjustment of Status is approved or you enter the U.S. with the immigrant visa, you will be granted 2-year conditional status. In order to obtain permanent resident status, you must remove the conditions on permanent resident status.

To become a lawful permanent resident based on the immigrant investor visa EB-5 category, eligible investors must file Form I-829, Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions. Form I-829 must be filed within 90 days before the second anniversary of your admission to the U.S. as a conditional resident.

In order to remove the conditions on permanent residence, the investor must submit:

• Evidence that the investor invested, or was actively in the process of investing the required capital and sustained the investment throughout the period of the immigrant investor’s residence in the United States; and
• Evidence that the new commercial enterprise created or can be expected to create, within a reasonable time, at least 10 full-time positions for qualifying employees. In the case of a troubled business, the investor must submit evidence that the commercial enterprise maintained the number of existing employees at no less than the pre-investment level for the period following his or her admission as a conditional permanent resident.

You should file the Form I-526 at the USCIS Lockbox directed by USCIS.

Under section 203(b)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(5), 7.1% of total employment based green cards are allocated to EB-5 (this translates to about 10,000 immigrant visas per year).