Is the EB-5 visa your route to a place in the sun in Florida?
Many retirees who have enjoyed wonderful holidays over the years in Florida, have yearned to be able to leave the damp, wet, drizzly and plain cold weather in the UK, Ireland and Canada and live their dream lifestyle in Florida. In the last few years this has become an increasingly attractive proposition with the cost of property in Florida so low and bargains to be found at all price levels.
However, for many years these aspirations remained a distant dream, with no realistic visa solution to enable them to live permanently in America. Some retirees found their only option was to go down the E2 visa route and buy and operate a business, However even that did not provide the security of permanent residence. This was due to the fact that if the business closed or failed to meet certain criteria the E2 visa would not be renewed. Of course operating a business may be the exact opposite of what the retiree wants to do in the U.S!
Fortunately there is now a proven visa that provides the perfect solution to meet the requirements of these retirees, as long as they are in a position to invest $500,000 and have overall assets of at least $1,000,000. This visa is the EB-5 Regional center pilot program and enables the retiree:-
- To retire (or to work if they still want to!)
- To live wherever they want in the U.S.
- To be free to travel in and out of the U.S
- To obtain green cards for their spouse and their children still under 21.
This visa pilot program, which is available until 2012 and takes between six months and a year to obtain, enables you to enjoy the Florida dream and a new lifestyle be it golf, fishing, tennis, shopping, the beaches, travelling etc.
The EB-5 visa requires applicants to invest $500,000 in a government approved regional center program. There are approximately 100 of these programs covering many different options such as resort properties, loans to development corporations, university medical parks etc. However, the track record of these centers does vary significantly and many investors use an independent company to advise them on the positives and negatives of the various programs, which have successfully repaid their investors and which are the subject of investigation by the government.
If the retiree is successful in their application they get a conditional green card for 2 years. Upon showing that the investment has not been withdrawn and the regional center has created 10 jobs per investor and used the investment proceeds, the retiree gets a permanent green card.
