EB-5 FAQs
What is EB-5?
EB-5 is a visa category that allows for immigration by investment into the United States. Under this program, a single investment can allow the investor, their spouse, and unmarried children under age 21 to receive a permanent visa (green card).
What is a qualifying EB-5 investment? $800,000 for TEA (Targeted Employment Area) projects; $1,050,000 for non-TEA projects. The investment project must create or preserve (if a “troubled business”) at least 10 qualifying jobs per EB-5 investor.
The EB-5 program is administered by United States Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS). Congress created the EB-5 program in 1990 to stimulate the U.S. economy. In 1992, Congress added the Regional Center Program, which sets aside EB-5 visas for participants who invest in commercial enterprises associated with regional centers designated by USCIS.
What is an Expedited Petition?
Expedited processing has historically been the fastest track and has taken 6-12 months. Individual investors have to request expedited processing when they file their I-526E petitions and USCIS will consider the request if it meets certain criteria. There are however no guarantees when it comes to expedited processing.
How long does expedited processing take?
Before the Reform and Integrity Act (RIA) of 2022 expedited processing in our projects took on average 10 months. This was considerably faster than standard processing times which could take several years. Post-RIA investors have been notified that their requests for expedited processing will be held pending approval of the project application (form I-956F). This could add another 6 months to the process unless the I-956F has already been approved when the investor files.
Expedited processing is estimated to take less than a year, but data is still needed to provide an accurate assessment.
What are the advantages of filing in a project that qualifies for an urgent humanitarian need/national interest?
Although there are no guarantees when it comes to USCIS processing, our post-RIA addiction treatment center deals have all had their project application forms (I-956F) approved for expedited processing. It can be surmised that investors in these projects may receive extra attention.
Does a Rural Investment qualify for expedited processing?
EB-5 Advantages for Investors
Immigration through the EB-5 program can have many advantages.
- US Green Card. EB-5 visas provide lawful permanent residence for the investor and certain family members.
- Self-Petition. EB-5 does not require an offer of employment, family sponsorship, or lottery.
- Flexibility. As a permanent resident, the EB-5 investor can live and work anywhere in the U.S. without restrictions.
- Speed. For nationals of many countries, the EB-5 visa is one of the fastest paths to a green card.
- Education. U.S. residency offers educational benefits and may facilitate college admissions and reduce tuition costs.
- Open. There are no educational, business background, or language requirements for EB-5 investors or their family members.
- Passive. The EB-5 investor need not majority-own, personally manage, or live near the investment project.
- Investment. The EB-5 investor makes a single investment, and has the possibility to receive a return of the invested capital.
- Permanent. The EB-5 investor and qualifying dependents are eligible for citizenship after five years of permanent residency.
Investor EB-5 Application Process — 5 Steps
Obtaining permanent residency through the EB-5 program involves a series of steps.
- Selection. Identify an appropriate EB-5 project for investment. Advisors, agents and regional centers can help to locate and evaluate projects.
- Investment. Prepare the required capital investment. The minimum qualifying EB-5 investment amount is $1,050,000, or $800,000 if the project is located in a Targeted Employment Area (TEA). Consult with immigration advisors regarding strategy for source of funds, and how to transfer funds to the project. Our legal team can help.
- Immigrant Petition. After making a qualifying investment in an EB-5 project, file a Form I-526E petition with USCIS. The I-526E petition provides evidence regarding the investment project and source of investment funds. If the applicant is in the U.S. on a nonimmigrant visa (H-1B, F-1, L-1 etc.) they can concurrently file for adjustment of status (Form I-485), as well as apply for temporary work authorization (EAD card) and travel authorization (Advance Parole).
- Conditional Green Card. If the applicant is outside of the U.S., they may file for conditional permanent residency after I-526E approval. The applicant may file a visa application with the U.S. Department of State. Applicants that are in the U.S. and have filed the I-485 will automatically be processed for their conditional green card provided there is visa availability for their country of birth. The monthly Visa Bulletin indicates which countries have EB-5 visas currently available. Upon approval, the applicant, the applicant’s spouse, and any qualifying children receive two-year green cards and can enter the United States. The monthly Visa Bulletin indicates which countries have EB-5 visas currently available. Upon approval, the applicant, the applicant’s spouse, and any qualifying children receive two-year green cards and can enter the United States.
- Unconditional Green Card. . Within 90 days of the end of the two-year conditional permanent residency period, submit a Form I-829 petition to remove conditions. This petition provides evidence that the EB-5 investment was sustained and has created jobs. When USCIS approves the I-829 petition, the investor and family members become permanent residents without condition. They have the option to become U.S. citizens after five years from when they became conditional permanent residents provided they have been in the country for more than half the time.
Requirements for EB-5 Investors
The EB-5 program has no age, language, education, business experience, or nationality restrictions for EB-5 investors or their family members. However, investors must be able to prove with documentary evidence that they acquired the invested funds legally.
Acceptable sources of EB-5 investment funds include:
- Accumulation of income/savings
- Earnings/dividends from business
- Gifts or loans that are legitimately sourced
- Inheritance
- Profits made from sale of real estate property
Immigrants through the EB-5 program must also be able to pass a consular screening interview, a criminal background check, and a medical check.
How can EB-5 investors make sure that a project is a good investment?
All investments carry a certain degree of risk. EB-5 investors should conduct due diligence (that is, do thorough research on) their projects and their regional centers to find out how much risk is involved and determine whether the project is a suitable choice. Investors are not only concerned with gaining a financial return; they also want to be confident that the EB-5 project will allow them to become permanent residents of the United States.
Investors must consider the following questions when conducting due diligence:
1. How safe is my investment?
This may require the help of an industry expert. Generally, a sound project should be fully funded with a reasonable amount of owner equity or “skin in the game”. Other factors include the track record of the management team and the developer, whether the project is already operational or under construction and whether there is any collateral underpinning the EB-5 investment.
2. Has USCIS approved the project?
If the project already has the I-956F (project application) approval it reduces the overall risk. USCIS will then just need to adjudicate the individual’s petition and not the project when the I-526E is adjudicated.
3. Can the project meet the employment creation criteria?
Investors who want to become permanent residents through the EB-5 program must prove that they created 10 qualified, full-time jobs for U.S. workers. Consequently, they should look for projects that aim to create more than 10 jobs per investor and are thus prepared for possible contingencies.
4. What is the Regional Center’s track record?
Reliable regional centers provide prospective investors with information on how many projects and visa petitions they have sponsored and what their track record is. It’s important to partner with a reliable Regional Center because they are responsible for ensuring ongoing compliance under the RIA.
Can I make a partial investment?
According to the law, the EB-5 investor needs to be “actively in the process of investing” when they file their petition. In practice this means that you can file your petition with a down payment and fund the balance, usually within a year. The benefit of a partial payment is that it allows the investor to get a place in the queue and gives them time to fund the balance. Investors still need to provide documentation on the source of funds for the full amount when they file, so it’s best to consult with your immigration attorney on this. Not all projects accept a partial investment.
What is Concurrent Filing and What Are the Benefits?
Concurrent filing is available to EB-5 petitioners that are in the U.S. on a nonimmigrant visa (H-1B, L-1, F-1, E-2) and visa and are in a category that has visa numbers available. The process involves submitting the immigrant petition (Form I-526E) and the adjustment of status application (Form I-485) concurrently. Prior to the RIA investors had to wait for the I-526 approval before they could file for adjustment of status.
Concurrent filing allows investors to move through the EB-5 process more efficiently. It also allows investors to apply for work authorization and a travel card which they can get within months. This provides the lion’s share of the benefits of the green card while they wait for the I-526E approval.
Concurrent filing is particularly beneficial to Indian nationals in the U.S. on an H-1B (work visa) that are subject to excessively long wait times for a green card. The work authorization allows them to continue to work anywhere or start their own business while they wait for the green card.
Additionally, should a country experience visa retrogression, the investor can still continue to use their work authorization and travel card.
What is an EB-5 Regional Center?
An EB-5 Regional Center is an entity designated by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to promote economic growth in a particular geographic area by sponsoring projects to raise EB-5 investment. Investing through a Regional Center can allow for indirect job creation calculations.
USCIS designates a regional center based on an application that explains how the regional center will promote economic growth in its area. To ensure that a designated regional center remains eligible, USCIS reviews its annual reports to verify that it has continued to comply with all applicable laws.
Over 90% of EB-5 visas issued over the past decade have been for applicants who invested through the regional center program.
What is a TEA?
A Targeted Employment Area (TEA) is a geographic area that qualifies for the incentive of a reduced minimum investment amount. For EB-5 applicants who invest in a project located in a TEA, the required minimum investment is lowered from $1,050,000 million to $800,000.
As defined by USCIS, a TEA can be a rural area or a high-unemployment area.
- A rural area means an area that is both not within the boundaries of a metropolitan statistical area, and not within a city or town with population of 20,000 or more.
- A high unemployment area is an area that has experienced unemployment of at least 150 percent of the national average rate.
USCIS specifies that the unemployment data provided to the public by the Census Bureau (through the American Community Survey) and the Bureau of Labor Statistics qualify as reliable and verifiable data to qualify a TEA using proper methodology.
The regional center will provide evidence to show that a project location meets TEA qualifications. This evidence will be submitted and reviewed as part of the investor’s Form I-526E petition.
Why Work With Us?
EB5 Visa Fast’s mission is to help you achieve your investment and immigration goals as quickly and efficiently as possible. We have focused on addiction treatment centers due to their self-evident importance in addressing the opioid epidemic in the United States.
To date, we have funded 8 addiction treatment centers with EB-5 capital.
Additionally, our affiliated regional centers cover 49 states. Our affiliated regional centers sponsor dozens of projects that are currently in the market.
Since 2012, our affiliated regional centers have sponsored almost 500 investors with many of them having since received their green cards and a full return of capital.
USCIS
Approved
EB5 Visa Fast represents multiple Regional Centers approved to operate in 49 U.S. states
Highest Quality
EB-5 Projects
All our projects undergo a rigorous due diligence process before we offer them to our investors
Track
Record
All the investors in our deals have been approved at various stages of the EB-5 process. We've had no denials in any of our projects (where we act as the NCE manager)
