EB-5 is an investment based immigration program where foreign investors who invest in the United States and create jobs for American workers can achieve permanent residency or a “Green Card“. An immigrant investor who can invest $1 Million (or $500,000 in a{ (TEA) target employment area} and create 10 jobs for American workers can achieve permanent residency (or green card) for themselves and qualifying family members. To qualify as an “investment” the investor’s project is required to have risk. Many countries have investment immigration programs but the most popular programs are that of the United States, Australia, Canada and United Kingdom. This program has various requirements and stipulations such as how the jobs are counted, what documentation needs to be provided and more. There are 2 styles of investment, investing directly or through a federally-designated Regional Center. When investing directly, the investor makes a direct investment into a job creating company. When investing directly, the investor must invest at least $1 Million and can only record jobs that are created through direct hiring of employees.
A USCIS approved Regional Center is a vehicle that has gone through a sort of pre-approval process with USCIS. The Regional Center pilot program’s core purpose is to make the EB-5 investment process easier for the investor, more streamlined for USCIS approvals and further promote U.S. economic growth. The Regional Center essentially can take all the management and job creation responsibilities out of the hands of the investor. The Regional Center is a powerful job creating entity that is granted the capability to pool multiple investors together like a “fund”, and create jobs in multiple direct and indirect capacities. The EB-5 investment is split into 2 phases. In the beginning, the investor is granted a conditional or “temporary” green card. After 2 years and successfully creating 10 jobs through their investment, the conditions are removed and a “Permanent” green card is given to the investor.
EB-5 visa process: Clients sign up with us, and we hire an immigration attorney and CPA to represent the client. The client directly sends their documents to the Attorney, who prepares the forms to file the client's I-526. We hold extensive discussions with our client to learn what are our client's preferences, and what may be appropriate choices based on the client's preferences of location, budget, career goals, etc. The attorney and CPA form a corporate entity on behalf of the client. This entity is wholly owned and controlled by the client. This eliminates any potential for fraud or conflict of interest. The client wires their funds into their bank account, and sends us evidence that the funds were legally acquired and lawfully transmitted. The client sends their documents to the attorney, who uses the CPA prepared documents and client supplied documents as part of the supporting documents filed in support of the I-526 petition.
We then conduct necessary negotiations with franchisor (if the client opts for franchise). The attorney files the I-526 along with supporting documentation (CPA prepared records, bank statements, leases, purchase records, contracts, payroll records etc). After the client gets approved, (s)he can either choose to adjust status (if in the US) or opt for consular processing if overseas. When the client is in the country, they start managing their business, and if needed, undergo necessary franchisor training. After 21 months of being admitted in I-526 status, the immigration attorney would file form I-829 along with CPA prepared documentary records (bank records, income and sales tax records, payroll records, lease copies, etc.) in order to prove that the funds were invested and stayed invested, and that 10 jobs were created and maintained for US citizens. Once the Client's I-829 is approved, our contractual responsibility ends.
