Immigrant Investor Program – EB-5
The fifth employment-based preference category, known as EB-5, refers to a
green card process for foreign investors. Under this program, foreign national
entrepreneurs or investors (to include, their spouses and unmarried children
under 21), are eligible to apply for permanent residence (a “green card”) if
they: 1) make the necessary investment in a new commercial enterprise in the
United States; and 2) plan to create or preserve 10 permanent full-time jobs for
qualified U. S. workers. The immigrant investor program or EB-5 appropriates
10,000 visas annually for qualified foreign nationals. The entrepreneurs or
investors are initially granted conditional permanent residence for a two-year
period, and may then apply to have the conditions on his residency removed
provided the conditions listed above are met during the conditional two-year
period.
The foreign national is expected to invest capital valued at $1,000,000
($500,000, if in a “targeted employment area”) in a new or troubled commercial
enterprise. A commercial enterprise is defined as any for-profit activity formed
for the conduct of lawful business and includes, but is not limited to: sole
proprietorships, partnerships, holding companies and their wholly-owned
subsidiaries, joint ventures, corporations, and business trusts or other
entities. The invested capital may include cash, equipment, inventory, tangible
property, and must have been obtained by lawful means. In addition, the
enterprise must benefit the U. S. economy and create full-time employment for
not less than 10 qualifying U. S. employees. The foreign national must submit a
comprehensive business plan showing the need for not fewer than 10 employees,
including approximate dates of when, within the next two years, those employees
will be hired. The foreign national must be engaged in the management of the
enterprise either through day-to-day managerial control or through policy
formulation.
During the foreign national’s conditional residency period, the foreign
national must document the progress of the investment and job
creation/preservation, and submit the same concurrently with a petition to
remove the conditions on residency with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Service (USCIS). Once the petition to remove conditions is approved, the “green
card” becomes permanent.
Immigrant Investor Regional Centers
A foreign national may also qualify for an immigrant investor’s visa by
investing through regional centers approved by USCIS to promote economic growth
in designated areas. A regional center is an economic entity, public or private,
that promotes economic growth, regional productivity, job creation, and capital
investment. A foreign national who invests in a regional center project may take
advantage of more expansive job creation to include both “indirect” and “direct”
jobs to qualify for the immigrant investor visa.
To obtain “regional center” designation by the USCIS, the entity must submit
a proposal identifying: 1) the geographical area; 2) a detailed description of
how the capital investment will create qualifying jobs; 3) a detailed prediction
of how the center will impact earnings, services, utilities, construction; 4)
the administrative structure of the center; and 5) how the center will promote
economic growth in the geographical area, to include documentary evidence. As of
January 4, 2016, USCIS has approved approximately 790 regional centers.
Most recently, the vast majority of immigrant investor visas were issued to
foreign nationals investing in regional centers located in target areas.
The Law Firm of Antone, Casagrande & Adwers, P.C. helps individuals and businesses worldwide with all of their US immigration needs including employment visas, obtaining green cards for business and corporate employees and family members, visas for doctors, nurses, therapists, and other health care workers, together with waivers for physicians under J visa training program, labor certifications (PERM), national interest waivers, marriage-based adjustments and green cards, fiancee visas, family immigration preferences, students, naturalization and citizenship, including medical waivers, asylum, deportation, hardship waivers, voluntary departure and removal. We serve clients in southeast Michigan including the Detroit Metro area, Ann Arbor, and Lansing. With offices in Farmington Hills, MI, we are close to Southfield, Troy, West Bloomfield, Birmingham, Novi, Rochester and Auburn Hills in Oakland County; Canton, Plymouth, Dearborn, and Detroit in Wayne County; Warren, Sterling Heights, and Mount Clemens in Macomb County; Brighton and Howell in Livingston County; Lansing in Ingham County; City of Monroe in Monroe County, Ann Arbor in Washtenaw County; Grand Rapids in Kent County; Battle Creek in Calhoun County; Kalamazoo in Kalamazoo County; Benton Harbor in Berrien County; Holland in Ottawa County; Flint in Genesee County; Ludington in Mason County; Muskegon in Muskegon County; and Traverse City in Grand Traverse County, Michigan. Although many of our clients are located in the tri-county area of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb, we also serve clients in many cities and states in the U.S. including Cleveland, Toledo and Cincinnati, Ohio; Chicago, Illinois; Milwaukee and Green Bay, Wisconsin; Indianapolis, Indiana; Buffalo, New York; Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego, California; Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona; Dallas, Houston, El Paso and Galveston, Texas; Miami, Florida; Washington D.C.; Virginia, Minnesota, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and many others. In addition to the United States, we also serve Canadian nationals from numerous provinces in Canada, including Toronto and Windsor in Ontario; Montreal in Quebec; Halifax in Nova Scotia; and Vancouver, British Columbia. We also serve cities and countries such as London, England; Scotland and other countries of the United Kingdom (U.K.); Mexico, Paris, France; Frankfurt and Berlin, Germany; Tokyo, Japan; India; Brazil; Rome, Italy; Shanghai and Beijing, China; Belgium; the Philippines, and many other countries in Europe, Asia and South America. |