Is the EB-5 immigrant investor visa your best chance of obtaining permanent residency in the USA?
The EB-5 visa provides green cards for an increasing number of families seeking permanent residency in the USA. The visa requires an investment of $500,000 in one of over one hundred regional centers authorized to offer qualifying programs in specific targeted employment areas.
The visa has proved particularly popular with aspiring immigrants from many countries throughout the world, as well as families already in the USA on a variety of inappropriate visas including the E2, H1B, L1, F1 etc who subsequently faced problems with visa renewal or indeed deportation.
When carrying out due diligence on the various EB5 programs, some families have often found it difficult to obtain the impartial information necessary to make a knowledgeable decision. All too often those seeking due diligence have discovered that attorneys and consultants may be working closely with a particular center or have actually visited few or indeed no programs and have very little in depth impartial, practical knowledge.
Many potential applicants have three specific requirements they need to satisfy prior to investing in a program: -
- Will my application be successful?
- Will the necessary 10 per investor jobs be created so conditions will be removed from the green card after two years?
- Will I get my $500,000 back and if so when?
The regional center programs typically fall into three main types,
- Equity based - often in property such as hotels, offices, hospitals etc
- Loan based - ranging from quasi government infrastructure projects to new developments.
- Investment based in a variety of sources.
Those researching the EB-5 visa programs have discovered a number of issues that may have far reaching implications and require caution. There is a need to be cautious of claims made by a number of the regional centers.
- Some regional center may be strong on selling but may not necessarily offer the most appropriate program for those wishing to see the return of all their $500,000 investment in a timely period.
- Some centers emphasis points which fail to tell the full true story, such as: They are government operated. They obtain visas quicker.
- A very small number of centers have experienced losses on the investment, face dispute, face closure by USCIS or have adverse trade or local press coverage which you need to be aware of.
- Some centers work closely with consultants and attorneys who act more in the capacity of agents rather than advocates of independent advice.
- Some centers work with commission earning agents in Asia whose clients may not speak English or be fully conversant of what they have entered into.
These points were highlighted at a recent series of overseas seminars attended by a panel of experts, including people who had successfully obtained permanent residency in the USA and are therefore in a good position to talk about their experiences.
The EB-5 pilot program, which is due to end in 2012, has now been operating long enough for investors in some programs to have had all or part of their investment refunded and indeed some of the earlier investors have decided to become US citizens.
It is important if considering this specialist visa route to obtain advice from experienced experts who have visited many centers such as CMB, Jay Peak, American Life, New York, South Dakota, California Agriculture, Lake Buena Vista etc and are aware of the strengths and weaknesses of these regional center projects.
