United States EB5 Visa

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is the government agency that oversees immigration applications to the United States. It administers the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program and is the authority that adjudicates I-526 petitions.

The I-526 petition is the form used to file the application of an investor who wants to immigrate to the USA through the EB-5 program. It contains all the details of the EB-5 investment and the project the investor's funds go into, and an I-526 approval means USCIS has reviewed and approved the investor's EB-5 application.

The I-829 petition is the form filed by an approved EB-5 investor who holds a conditional green card. Before the second anniversary of the conditional green card's issuance, the investor must file the I-829 to remove the conditions on their permanent resident status, which requires proving that the investment created 10 full-time jobs in the project. An I-829 approval means USCIS has reviewed and approved the removal of conditions.

A Regional Center is an economic unit, public or private, that promotes economic growth, regional productivity, job creation, and increased domestic capital investment. Regional Centers are designated by USCIS, which can terminate one if it no longer promotes economic growth in the USA. As of 10 September 2018 there were 886 designated Regional Centers in the USA.

A Targeted Employment Area (TEA) is a rural area or an area with an unemployment rate at least 150 percent above the national average. The Department of Homeland Security designates these zones, and locating an EB-5 project in a TEA reduces the minimum investment by 50 percent. In a TEA the minimum is USD 800,000, compared with the standard EB-5 amount of USD 1,050,000.

Selecting a project requires strict due diligence that assesses the total investment versus the total EB-5 investment, construction expenses and costs, financial forecasts and economic analysis, the number of EB-5 investors needed versus the job creation calculation and cushion, the investment holding period and exit strategy for repayment of the investment and interest, the USCIS I-924 Regional Center designation and existing I-526 approvals, the investors' countries of origin given backlog and retrogression for places such as Mainland China and Vietnam, and an on-site visit and meetings with the project's representatives.

The source of funds is the key part of the I-526 petition and requires a full review of the investor's assets. It typically involves analyzing income from salaries and bonuses, real estate rental income, business shareholding, profits, and dividends, asset transfers such as real estate, equity, and stocks, loans and mortgages, gifts from relatives, and insurance and allowances.

A direct investment, meaning one not made through a Regional Center, requires the investor to control and manage the project and to create 10 full-time jobs for qualified U.S. workers, of which one must be a direct job and the other nine can be indirect; this is an active investment. Investing through a Regional Center means the investor does not get involved in management, since the Regional Center runs the project, making it a passive investment.

From an immigration standpoint, the investor is protected as long as the job creation requirement is met, so if the project created 10 full-time jobs for U.S. workers, the investor can remove the conditions on their green card and gain the right to live, work, and study in the USA for life. From a business standpoint, if the project goes bankrupt the investor may not recover the EB-5 investment. For that reason HLG does not file I-526 petitions for clients who choose their own EB-5 project and only assists with I-526 petitions when the client invests in a project on which HLG has conducted its due diligence.

Successful I-526 petitioners have all the same rights as a permanent resident while holding the conditional green card, but that card is valid for only two years. Filing the I-829 petition lets the investor obtain an unconditional green card and the right to live, work, and study in the USA for life.

Both green card holders and U.S. citizens can live, study, and work in the USA indefinitely, but there are differences. A green card does not provide free mobility outside the USA; a green card holder must live in the USA for five years before applying for citizenship through naturalization; green card holders cannot vote or run in U.S. elections; U.S. citizens can live outside the USA indefinitely while green card holders must file for re-entry permits; U.S. citizens can sponsor immediate relatives such as parents, married children, and siblings; and permanent residents can lose their status if they commit crimes.

They can apply for a re-entry permit, which allows them to stay outside the United States for more than six months in a year.

Any person aged 21 or over can be the principal applicant. For a married couple, the principal applicant is usually the spouse who plans to stay longer and spend most of their time in the U.S. If one spouse needs to travel back and forth between the USA and their country of origin, HLG advises them to be the dependent spouse.

Yes. The documents evidencing the adoption and custody of the child must be submitted as supporting documents to the I-526 petition.

No. Only U.S. citizens can file sponsorship applications for their parents.