EB 5 Article

Investment Important Information

It is helpful to remember the EB-5 visa has two separate paths through US Immigration & Citizenship Services (USCIS). First, you and your family members will be evaluated for “admissibility”, which applies the same to every green card seeker. Criteria that would keep you out of the US include felony criminal convictions, significant health issues, assets gained from illegal means, etc. Second, the EB-5 requires you make an at-risk investment that creates, directly or indirectly, ten US jobs. You are an investor, not a manager, so there’s no requirement to hire these people yourself, work in the business, or even live in the same state as your investment.

10 Easy Steps to an EB-5 Visa

1. Confirm your eligibility. We need to confirm you as an “accredited” investor in order to show you any of our investment options. This is required by Regulation D of the US Securities Act of 1933. We understand it asks personal questions about your finances. You can complete the questionnaire attached to the PPM.
2. Select your investment. Once confirmed as an accredited, we can show you the details of several investments and you can select the investment which appeals most to you. In general, the investments options are the same, as they are commercial real estate projects, where the $500,000 investment is structured with alow interest rate for several years.
3. Hire an immigration attorney. Typically, legal fees range from $12,000 - $25,000 depending on the attorney and the complexity of your family’s case.
4. Prepare your visa petition. Once hired, your immigration attorney will provide you with a list of required documents and information (birth certificates,tax returns, etc.)that usually takes 2-3 months to compile. Usually the most cumbersome is collecting proof that the source of your $500,000 investment was earned legally, which involves tracing the money back seven years.
5. File your petition. Your attorney files your application (your family will be dependents on your application). Expected total costs to date are the attorney fees,the$ 500,000 investment, a $55,000 administrative fee, the filing fee at USCIS and any miscellaneous expenses you’ve incurred in the process (travel, notarizations, etc.). USCIS requirements, and no guarantee can be made as to its return of or return on investment.
6. We manage your investment. At this point, your investment and immigration diverge. We start managing the investment on your behalf; funding as the real estate project reaches certain milestones. You will receive regular reports on the status of the project. Usuallyy our EB-5 job creation requirements are tied to the construction, and if so, as soon as the construction is completed, the required jobs have been created.
7. Wait patiently. Your application will wait in a queue at USCIS for approximately 15-30 months. Current average time is 20 months per USCIS and it varies according to the citizenship of the investor.
8. Interview. Once approved, you will be notified and can make an appointment at your country’s US embassy or consulate for an interview. Once approved, they will provide you with documents to present upon your arrival in the US. At that point, you become a US permanent resident (Green Card holder).
9. Confirm your visa responsibilities. Approximately two years after your approval, our company will work with your immigration attorney to prove the jobc reation. There is a second filing, called Form I-829, to accomplish this. Upon review and approval by USCIS, they will replace you’reconditional green card with the permanent green card which only requires renewal (like a passport) every 10 years.
10. Completion of the investment. The investment continues separately and will be repaid per its own terms. We typically work with anapproximately five year term and attempt to return the investment earlier, but each project is different. The investment must be at-risk per USCIS requirements, and no guarantee can b emade as to its return of or return on investment.