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As will be discussed in more detail in the Immigration Question & Answer section to follow, this immigration green card route exists for applicants who (1) invest capital into a new commercial enterprise, or into an already approved U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Regional Investment Center, and (2) who can evidence that after two years of being issued the conditional green card have created at least 10 full-time U.S. jobs via said investment.
The two investment based immigration paths available to applicants include:
1. Regional Investment Center: An investment of at minimum $500,000 into a USCIS approved Regional Investment Center, or
2. Direct Investment: An investment of at minimum $1,000,000 into a new U.S. enterprise (unless the investment if being made into a rural area or an area stricken with at least 150% of the national unemployment rate)
EB-5 Investor Green Card Category
Note that often times this immigration option is considered along with the L-1 and E-2 visa as well. As opposed to the L-1 Visa immigration application for example, the investment based green card options herein discussed do not require a person to apply for a non-immigrant and then an immigrant green card, instead you will enter the U.S., or if already in the U.S. you will adjust your status directly and become a conditional green card holder. Of course the E-2 and L-1 visa options also have some distinct advantages such as far smaller initial investments into the U.S.
The Investor Based Green Card route however is far more direct and when one enters the U.S. you already have a conditional green card which cuts out a lot of other potential issues that may arise by going for an L-1 visa and then applying for a green card at a later time as that route requires more applications including L visa extensions and green card applications.
The green card investment based route is referred to as the Employment Based Immigration 5th Preference Category (EB-5) and contains two options, one of which is often far more desirable then another, that being investing into a Regional Investment Center as discussed in option 2 below. Of course, determining which option is best for you will be determined after we discuss your individual situation via a free consultation. Let us briefly consider each option:
1. $1 Million New Commercial Enterprise Route: This immigration route, which is often not the advisable immigration route is for a person to show that they have already, or are in the process of, investing $1 million into a new commercial enterprise in the U.S. which will substantially benefit the economy by creating 10 new jobs within a 2 year period;
a. The immigration regulations permit three methods of establishing a new commercial enterprise:
i. The creation of an original business;
ii. The purchase of an existing business and simultaneous restructuring or reorganization such that a new commercial organization results; or
iii. The expansion of an existing business through the investment of the required amount, so that a substantial change in the net worth or number of employees results from the investment of capital. The term "substantial change" is defined to mean a 40% increase in either the net worth or number of employees so that the new net worth or number of employees equals at least 140% of the business' pre-expansion net worth or number of employees.
b. Under this option, in certain cases, a person may be allowed to qualify if they invest in a "target employment area" and then only be required to invest $500,000. Two ways to qualify as a target employment area are:
i. Rural areas which are areas other than one within a metropolitan statistical area or within the boundary of a city or town with a population of 20,000 or more; and
ii. Areas having an unemployment rate that is at least 150% of the national average.
As this first route has many complications and intricacies, the next immigration option, the Regional Investment Center route was created as an alternative option for investors and has been relatively far more successful:
2. Pilot Program and Regional Investment Center Route: This route, which for a number of reasons is a far more streamlined immigration process and an easier route to take, requiring only a $500,000 investment in many cases as opposed to $1 million is the option of investing into a Regional Investment Center. There are numerous different qualifying investment centers, which are projects that have been pre-approved by the immigration service, each of whom have distinct track-records, investment returns, lengths of time that the invested money must remain within the center and so forth. Note that we can assist in locating the best option for you individually.
One of the major advantages of this immigration route is that the investment being made is going to a pre-approved investment center so a lot of burden is taken off the investor as you are not having to convince the immigration service that your business venture is realistic, has merit, and will be able to not only succeed but grow rapidly enough to employ at a minimum ten new employees within the first 2 years. As you can imagine this route is far less tedious although still does require careful preparation and attention.
Note that with either immigration route you will be issued a Conditional Green Card valid for two years which will then require an application to remove the "conditions" to be left with a regular green card. Note that the conditional green card has all the same benefits as the basic green card, it merely requires an additional step in removing the conditions. Again, investing into a Regional Investment Center makes the removal of these conditions more simple as opposed to having to evidence to the immigration service after two years that your new commercial enterprise is operational, has grown tremendously, and has satisfied requirements such as employing 10 persons.
Note that another benefit of the Regional Investment Center Route is that one can enter the U.S. on the conditional green card and then be free to work wherever one desires or open your own venture while participation int he Regional Investment Center remains a minimal time investment. There are some issues to discuss regarding this aspect but in general this option provides far more flexibility to the applicant.
I hope this basic background information was informative and I would be very pleased to speak to anyone directly to discuss the entire process and provide detail over each requirement and how we can satisfy each.
The Law Offices of Vaughan de Kirby is equipped to assist you in understanding this entire process, seeing if it is a suitable option for you, and then assisting throughout the preparation of the visa petition including locating suitable regional investment centers and so forth.