26/10/2018
What is EB5?
Many countries around the world have immigrant investor programs. The most successful today of these programs are located in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Canada was the most successful at bringing in investment dollars; however recently parts of its program have been closed. The United States immigrant investor program is called the EB5 program which is short for: Employment Based 5th Preference. Success for immigrant investors in this program results in a permanent United States visa (Permanent or green card for themselves and qualified family members under the age of 21 at the time of filing the initial petition). Success for the United States is the program requires immigrant investors to make an at-risk investment (One million dollars or $500,000 depending on several factors) that creates no fewer than 10 new American jobs, thus the name Employment Based 5th Preference Visa.
If a foreign national invests $1 million (or in some cases $500,000 within a targeted employment area, an area statistically proven to be 150% of the U.S. national unemployment rate or rural area) in a business that creates ten new American jobs, the immigrant investor would be eligible to obtain a green card (permanent visa) for themselves and their qualifying family members. The program has many other provisions, such as maintaining the investment throughout the EB5 conditional permanent residency period, increasing regional productivity, and other requirements. The program is divided into two distinct phases. In the first phase the immigrant investor is granted a conditional visa. After two years, the conditions on the visa are removed if the investor has proven the creation ten new American jobs, maintained the required amount of investment and met the residency time requirement the conditions on the visa are removed and the visa is made permanent.
