Is An EB5 Investor Visa The Easiest Path To Obtaining a US Green Card?
By: Stanley Hermosillo | Posted: 29th December 2010
The EB5 investor visa program has allowed for an increasing number of foreign families to earn a green card in the United States. This program is popular not only with those immigrants who are wishing to move to the United States, but also among those immigrants that are already in the United States on other visa types and are facing problems renewing these visas. This article will describe the EB5 Investor Visa program and its benefits in greater detail.
The EB5 Investor Visa can potentially offer permanent green card status to investors and their families as long as all conditions are met and maintained for the requisite two-year period. The EB5 program was created as part of the Immigration Act of 1990. This Immigrant Investor Visa offers an employment-based visa, and is intended to help boost the United States economy by encouraging foreign investors to make substantial investments in American businesses. The United States can issue up to ten thousand EB5 Investor Visas each year, three thousand of which are allocated for investments made in government certified Regional Centers.
In order to be eligible for an Eb-5 Investor Visa, foreign investors must be able to invest one million US Dollars ($1M) in either an existing business or to start-up a new enterprise in the United States. The investment must also result in the creation of at least ten new full-time jobs as a direct or indirect result of the investment.
A regional center is an organization that the US citizenship & immigration service has approved to help promote economic growth and regional productivity. If an investor places their investment in a government certified regional center, the required investment can be lowered to half a million US dollars ($500K); this is because investments in regional centers are generally made in in a areas of high unemployment where the job creation will have a greater impact.
In order to apply for and obtain an Eb-5 Green Card, the investor must be able to produce various documentation. This includes proof that they have access to at least $1,000,000 US dollars (or $500,000 depending on their investment choice); proof that the investment capital is from a legal origin; education and employment records; certificates of birth and marriages as required; details of police or prison records, military records and color passport style photographs. Investors must also be able to prove the source of their investment capital, as well as their ability to transfer said funds.
Successful applicants in the EB5 Investor Visa Program can expect to obtain an EB5 Investor Visa, allowing them two-years conditional residence in the United States. Once the two-year period is completed, providing that all requirements have been met and maintained, investors can then apply to have the restrictions removed, at which point they would be permitted permanent legal residence in the United States.This article is free for republishing
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Tags: new enterprise, half a million, american businesses, time jobs, foreign investors, job creation, united states economy, us citizenship, regional center, immigrant investor