EB-5 visa applicants, their spouse, and their children under 21 will obtain their permanent residency green card once all requirements have been successfully met and the application is approved. Currently the process is taking around 48- 50 months.

Required EB-5 Investment Amount:

EB-5 visa applicants are typically required to make either a $800,000 or $1.05 million capital investment amount into a U.S. commercial enterprise. The EB-5 investment can take the form of cash, inventory, equipment, secured indebtedness (not against the business you are purchasing), tangible property, or cash equivalents and is valuated based on U.S. dollar fair-market value. The minimum amount of capital required for the EB-5 visa program can be $800,000 if the investment is made in a commercial entity that is located in a Targeted Employment Area (TEA). TEA consists of either: High unemployment areas are geographic locations with an unemployment rate that is at least 150 percent of the national unemployment rate at the time of the EB-5 investment. Rural areas are either:

• 1) Not located within any standard metropolitan statistical area (MSA);
• 2) Not located within any city or town having a population of 20,000 or more as based on the most recent decennial census of the United States.

EB-5 Job Creation Requirements:

The USCIS requires that EB-5 investments result in the creation of 10 full-time jobs for U.S. workers. These jobs must be created within the two year period after the investor has received their conditional permanent residency. In some cases, the investor must be able to prove that their investment led to the creation of direct jobs for employees who work directly within the commercial entity that received the investment. However, the EB-5 investor may only have to show that 10 full-time indirect or induced jobs were created if the investment was made in a regional center. Indirect jobs are those created in businesses that supply goods or services to the EB-5 project. Induced jobs are jobs created within the greater community as a result of income being spent by EB-5 project employees.

EB-5 Business Entities:

However, older commercial enterprises may qualify if the investment leads to a 40-percent increase in the number of employees or net worth, or if an older business is restructured to such a degree that a new commercial enterprise results. In addition to individual business enterprises, EB-5 visa applicants can also invest in EB-5 Regional Centers. Regional centers administer EB-5 projects. It may be more advantageous for an investor to invest in a regional center-run project because the investor will not have to independently set up the EB-5 projects.

EB-5 Visa Requirements Summary

• 1) $1.05 million capital investment OR $800,000 in a Targeted Employment Area.
• 2) The investment must be made in a for-profit U.S. commercial entity.
• 3) The investment must create 10 full-time U.S. jobs in two years after the approval of the visa.

Regional Center Option

1. There are many companies that ask you to invest $800,000 with them for 5 years and they will get you legal permanent resident.
2. ​They keep your funds for 5 years and only pay 1% per annum.
3. They charge up to $70,000 extra fees as processing fees.
4. There is no guarantee for the project since it is pre authorized by the government but the funds are not guaranteed by the government.

​It is our professional opinion that it is very expensive way of obtaining legal permanent resident.