EB-5 Visa

Benefits of an EB-5 Visa

immigratio-formsThe EB-5 visa is ideal for retirees, current non-immigrant visa holders, professionals and business people who have at least $500,000 to invest. It provides the benefit of no day to day management, permanent residence for the applicant, his or her spouse and children under 21 years of age, the possibility of becoming a US citizen after 5 years, and the ability to live, work or retire anywhere in the United States. The EB-5 Visa offers flexibility to take any job, not have to rely on sponsorship by a permanent resident or citizen of the US, and children may attend school and apply to universities.

EB-5 Visa Investment
Of course, a substantial financial commitment is needed in a qualifying US investment. USCIS administers the Immigrant Investor Program, also known as “EB-5 Visa,” created by Congress in 1990 to stimulate the U.S. economy through job creation and capital investment by foreign investors.

The applicant may qualify for an EB-5 visa in these ways:
1. Invest $1,000,000 and hire ten employees anywhere in the USA, or

2. Invest $500,000 and hire ten employees in an area where the unemployment rate exceeds the national average by 150% or the rural population is less than 20,000, or

3. Invest in a Government designated Regional Center and avoid direct employment.

Source of Funds
It is important to note that funds may come from any legal foreign or US source, including gifts, loans, executive pension funds, trusts and divorce settlements. Whoever receives the EB-5 visa must make the investment. Borrowed investment funds qualify as long as they are not secured by the assets of the target US investment.

Class of Investments Under the EB-5 Visa Program
EB-5 visa Investments must be in a new commercial enterprise, which is defined as any for-profit activity formed for the ongoing conduct of lawful business including, but not limited to:

> A sole proprietorship
> Partnership (whether limited or general)
> Holding company
> Joint venture
> Corporation
> Business trust or other entity, which may be publicly or privately owned

The commercial enterprise must have been:

> Established after Nov. 29, 1990, or
> Established on or before Nov. 29, 1990, that is:

1- Purchased and the existing business is restructured or reorganized in such a way that a new commercial enterprise results, or
2- Expanded through the investment so that a 40-percent increase in the net worth or number of employees occurs

EB-5 Visa Goals, Definitions and Rules

This definition includes a commercial enterprise consisting of a holding company and its wholly owned subsidiaries, provided that each such subsidiary is engaged in a for-profit activity formed for the ongoing conduct of a lawful business.

The goal is to create or preserve at least 10 full-time jobs for qualifying U.S. workers within two years (or under certain circumstances, within a reasonable time after the two-year period) of the immigrant investor’s admission to the United States as a Conditional Permanent Resident, and to create or preserve either direct or indirect job.:

To be “direct jobs”, they must be actual identifiable jobs for qualified employees located within the commercial enterprise into which the EB-5 visa investor has directly invested his or her capital. To be “indirect jobs”, they must be those jobs shown to have been created collaterally or as a result of capital invested in a commercial enterprise affiliated with a regional center by an EB-5 investor. A foreign investor may only use the indirect job calculation if affiliated with a regional center. To be credited with preserving jobs, the investment must be in a troubled business.

If an enterprise has been in existence for at least two years and has incurred a net loss during the 12- or 24-month period prior to the priority date on the immigrant investor’s Form I-526, it will be considered to be a troubled business. Losses for this period must be at least 20 percent of the troubled business’ net worth prior to the loss

The investment in the EB-5 program may be in cash, equipment, inventory, other tangible property, cash equivalents and indebtedness secured by assets owned by the alien entrepreneur, provided that the alien entrepreneur is personally and primarily liable and that the assets of the new commercial enterprise upon which the petition is based are not used to secure any of the indebtedness. Capital shall be valued at fair-market value in United States dollars. Assets shall be considered capital only f acquired lawfully.

Please contact us today to discuss how we me assist you with an EB-5 Visa.