EB5 Investor Visa Lawyer Blog

Under the USCIS, the EB 5 immigrant investor visa is designed to create jobs in the United States. The minimum requirement is 10 direct or indirect jobs. The entrepeneur invests $500,000 under the EB 5 pilot program and this is with an approved United States Regional Center which makes the investment. The job creation can be indirect so that even if the investment fails, the jobs are created for persons in the United States who are legally entitled to work.

The United States White House website has a recent blog posting about the issue of job creation in the United States. Leaders of technology were invited to give their opinions and ideas on job creation and competitiveness. Included were Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, AOL co founder Steve Case and many others. Many of these were from Silicon Valley. Aneesh Chopra, CTO of the United States, discussed contributions which immigrants can make in terms of the economy and job creation.

One of the immigration visas discussed was the EB 5. In the text of the article, the investment amount is $1,000,000 and ten new jobs need to be created. Under the EB5 investor visa pilot program, this investment is reduced to $500,000 when invested with a United States Regional Center in targeted employment areas. The amount of $500,000 is for the investment and the entrepeneur will obtain temporary permanent residency for themselves and their unmarried children under the age of 21. The process includes filing the I-526 petition and then, 2 years later, asking for adjustment of status with the filing of the I-829. After non conditional permanent residency is obtained, the investor and any other who obtained lawful permanent residency with them, can then petition for United States Citizenship with the filing of the N-400.

As discussed in this program, the EB 5 process is very difficult and complex.