In essence, the way the EB-5 program works is simple: the applicant and the applicant’s immediate family receive immigration benefits for making an investment of $500,000 in the U.S. economy. I want to be clear: this isn’t buying a Green Card; it doesn’t mean handing over half a million dollars to the U.S. government. Investments under the EB-5 program are made in for-profit businesses in the Untied States, with the possibility for a return on investment. The major requirement of the program is that the investment must create 10 jobs. 

In my experience, there are two concerns that stand out in the minds of immigrant investors: the success of their application an the security of their investment.

The arrangement of escrow, offered by a few regional centers–NobleOutreach and CMB Export among them–goes a long way towards answering both of these concerns.

No EB-5 applicant wants to make the required investment, see it lose value, and then have their Green Card application denied. Escrow ensures that this could never happen.

If you are not familiar with the term, escrow is a legal arrangement according to which a person‘s assets can be held by a trusted third party–often a bank–until the terms of an contract are satisfied, at which point the third party will transfer the assets to whomever the contract designates. In other words, the EB-5 investor signs a contract with the regional center, which says that, once the investor‘s I-526 application is approved in the United States, the funds will be transferred to the regional center and fully invested in the approved business enterprise. If, on the other hand, USCIS denies the application, the funds will be returned to the investor.

One of the best things about this arrangement is that it still satisfies the “at risk” requirement of the EB-5 program. For the investors who work with a regional center that offers escrow, this makes for a more secure application process.

Currently, a federal agency called “USCIS“ is in charge of administering the EB-5 visa program. USCIS stands for “United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.“ It is one of the United States‘ current immigration agencies.

The former U.S. immigration agency, the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Services), no longer exists. After September 11th, the U.S. government underwent a significant restructuring in an effort to more efficiently combat terrorism and ensure preparedness for natural disasters.

This restructuring created an entirely new department of the federal government: the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. In March of 2003, the Department of Homeland Security absorbed the former INS and split its responsibilities between two new agencies: the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (USICE) and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

From a certain perspective, dividing the functions of immigration enforcement and administering programs like EB-5 between different agencies makes sense. They require two very different mentalities. The goal of the EB-5 program, after all, is about bringing qualified investors into the United States, rather than keeping illegal immigrants out.

When these functions were combined under the former INS, it had a fairly predictable result. The requirements of the EB-5 were made more difficult to satisfy and, as a consequence, it was harder for foreigners to get a visa and the program failed to strengthen the economy to the degree that U.S. lawmakers had hoped.

Fortunately, qualified foreign investors now have a fair, flexible path to permanent residency.

Whether you qualify for the program depends primarily on whether you can afford to make an investment of the required size.  There are two basic requirements

* First, you must be able to make a $500,000 investment in a regional center.

* Second, your overall net worth must be at least 1 million dollars. All your assets—stocks, real estate, etc.—are included in calculating your net worth. The idea behind the 1 million dollar net worth requirement is that the U.S. government wants to prevent people from making an investment that they cannot afford to lose.

If you satisfy these requirements, it is highly likely that you qualify for the EB-5 program. Although there are some things that might disqualify you—such as a criminal record—these exclusionary conditions apply to virtually all immigration paths.