The Employment-Based Immigration Fifth Preference is known as EB-5 in short. It is a United-States immigration visa as well as green card program that can lead to citizenship. It is a program designed to allow business owners or investors, their spouses, and unmarried children under their age of 21 to travel in and out, study, or work in the United States. In a survey, it has been found that around 2500 investors get EB 5 visa every year. And, this number gets extended when their families are added. EB 5 visa program has become highly popular among the citizens of China and India because the United States does not have a treaty with countries that offer EB 2 opportunities.
Having an effective EB5 business plan is highly beneficial for a successful EB 5 petition. An EB 5 application is important for investors to qualify, but the effective business plan submitted with the application can make the process easier. A great business plan will help you easily get the approval of the I-526. It can be done by identifying the needs of the programs along with demonstrating the likelihood of the downstream I-829 approval. Here, I-526 is known as Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur, and I-829 is known as Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status.
Before moving forward, let’s check out some traits of an EB 5 eligible business:
- It is mandatory that business must be located in the United States.
- It is mandatory that the business must employ people eligible to work in the United States.
- It is mandatory that the business must use capital to empower the growth of employees.
In addition to this, you can use EB 5 capital in order to buy inventory or equipment, but not to buy land or any existing property. This capital can be used to improve on existing property so that it can create jobs. In short, the investment must be spent on something that creates jobs.
The Investment
The minimum investment must be at least $1 million. It must be made prior to submitting the I-526. It is also important to keep in mind that the amount of investment is placed in escrow. Also, remember that escrow deposits will no more under the control of the investor. Most of the investment agreements include some kind of language that tells that this amount will be placed into the business once the I-526 will be approved. However, the investment will be returned to the investor if the petition gets rejected.
In the present era, the amount of investment can only come from family members. This might be changed, but it is expected that pending language is removed. These days, it is quite common incidence for 10 folks to transfer funds into a domestic account on behalf of the investor to overcome limitations from China. This investment hurtle can be reduced to $500,000 if the investment is made in a Targeted Employment Area.
Take a look at a Targeted Employment Area:
- A rural area with less than 20,000 people
- A metropolitan area with an unemployment rate greater than 1.5x the national average
Today, there are a number of service providers that specialize in providing high-quality services to make your process easy and hassle-free. You can approach the right provider and get an effective business plan to get the approval of your petition without any stress. Use the internet and find the right leader in your region.