U.S. permanent resident (“green card”) status based on EB-5 eligibility is available to certain investors, either alone or coming with their spouse and unmarried children. Eligible aliens are those who have invested — or are actively in the process of investing — the required amount of capital into a new commercial enterprise that they have established or a government approved Regional Center. They must further demonstrate that this investment will benefit the United States economy and create the requisite number of full-time jobs for qualified persons within the United States.
In this informative powerpoint, immigration attorneys Murali Bashyam and Ame Coats describe the EB-5 program, the various investments that can be made, and the process for obtaining permanent residency in the US through investment.
1. The EB-5 Program
Options for Obtaining Residency Through
Investment
Hosted by:
Murali Bashyam and Ame Coats
Bashyam Spiro LLP
www.bashyamspiro.com
CONNECT WITH US:
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/bashyamspiro
TWITTER: www.twitter.com/bashyamspiro
3. EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program
• Established by the US Congress as part of the
Immigration Act of 1990
• Purpose: To stimulate the US economy through job
creation and capital investment by international
investors
• Authorizes up to 10,000 EB-5 visas a year
• Program is administered by the United States Citizenship
and Immigration Service
4. Why Use the EB-5 Program?
• Not subject to quota-based immigration backlogs
• You control your own destiny – No requirement of a
sponsoring family member or employer
• Applicable to the investor, the investor’s spouse, and all
children under the age of 21
• Investor can be geographically mobile
• Good for entrepreneurs (with money!)
5. EB-5 Requirements
1. Must invest in a New Commercial Enterprise
a. Create an original business
b. Purchase an existing business and
restructure/reorganize such that a
new commercial enterprise results
a. Expand an existing business by 140 percent
of the pre-investment number of jobs or
net worth; or retaining all existing jobs in a troubled business that has lost 20
percent of its net worth in the last 12-24 months
1. Create or preserve 10 full-time jobs for qualifying US workers
2. Capital investment:
a. Minimum qualifying investment is $1 million
b. Minimum qualifying investment is $500,000 in a Targeted Employment Area
6. Targeted Employment Area
#1 Question – What is it and Where is it?
• Rural area - Less than 20,000 people
• High unemployment area – 150% of national average
• Designated by Office of Budget and Management
• Many state agencies have lists of TEAs
• Helpful websites: www.census.gov; www.bls.gov/lau/lauov.htm
7. How to Apply
Two step process:
1. File I-526 application:
a. Submit documentation in investment, source of
funds, commercial enterprise and job creation
a. If approved, file I-485 Adjustment or Consular Process
b. Conditional for 2 years
2. Remove conditions: File I-829 application:
a. File within 90 days of end of 2nd year
b. Submit documentation to prove that investment is still in enterprise
and that requisite number of jobs have been created
8. EB-5 Investment Options
Two types of EB-5 Investment programs:
1. Direct EB-5 Investment
2. Investment through a Regional Center
a. USCIS approved legal entities (public or private) that
coordinates investments in compliance with EB-5
statutory, regulatory and precedent decisions
b. Recently extended through Sept. 30, 2015
9. Regional Center - Advantages
•Not required to start a business
•Only $500,000 investment required
•No day to day management requirement
•Can count both direct and indirect job creation
•3,000 EB-5 visas set aside for Regional Centers
•Over 250 Regional Centers
•Often only permanent residence option for retiree
•No geographical limitation
10. Choosing a Regional Center
Questions to ask:
1.Who are the regional center principals and what are their reputations
2.What is the regional center’s business model
3.What is the regional center’s economic impact methodology?
4.Does the regional center rely heavily on indirect job creation?
5.What is the period of time an investor’s funds will be used?
6.How many I-526 and I-829 petitions have been approved by USCIS?
7.Does the regional center guarantee anything?
8.What is the takeout strategy for return of the investor’s funds?
9.What percentage of the project are foreign investors?
11. Regional Center - Risks
•Regional Center project may fail to create enough jobs to cover all
the investors in project
•Investment project fails, there are no jobs, and no money to return
to investors
•Regional Center may lose USCIS certification
•Regional Center may go bankrupt
•I-526 approved but I-829 denied
•May lose some or all of money; “at risk”
•Bad rate of return
.
12. Filing and Approval Rates
• Between 2005-2012 – I-526 approval rate is 81%
• Between 2005-2012 – I-829 approval rate is 84%
• 2005: 332 I-526 applications filed
• 2012: 4,156 I-526 applications filed
• I-924 application to form a Regional Center – 90% Request for Evidence;
over 60% denial rate
13. Examples
#1 – Client A came to the US under the E-2 investor visa program. The initial investment
was $200,000, but over the course of 2 years, Client A has invested an additional
$500,000 and created 8 jobs.
What are Client A’s options?
#2 – Client B came to the US on an F-1 visa and later got an H-1B visa. He is in his fourth
year of H-1B visa status and is aware of the backlog in the employment-based
categories. However, Client B is from a wealthy family and has significant stock
holdings in his father’s company.
What are Client B’s options?
#3 – Esther lives in S. Korea and has accumulated savings of $500,000 over the course of
her life. Unfortunately, N. Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, has moved Masudan missiles to
a firing facility and has threated S. Korea with nuclear destruction. Esther wants to get
the heck out of there!
What are Esther’s options?
15. Thank You For Attending.
VISIT OUR MEDIA LIBRARY
Watch this and other webinars anytime
http://bashyamspiro.com/media/video-webinar-podcast.aspx
For more information, contact:
919-833-0840
murali@bashyamspiro.com
ame@bashyamsprio.com
CONNECT WITH US:
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/bashyamspiro
TWITTER: www.twitter.com/bashyamspiro
