US Visa Singapore

EB5 investor visas are most often applied for by wealthy foreign individuals wanting to relocate their family to the US or large foreign corporations that wish to establish a strong business presence in the US.  Citizens from any country can qualify to apply for an EB5 investor visa.

Approved EB5 investors will receive a US green card and are eligible to apply for US citizenship after permanently residing in the US for 6 months or more for 5 straight years.

There are several different investment options that can qualify for EB5 investor visa status as follows:

 

• Invest $500,000 in a commercial enterprise in a targeted employment area that will benefit the US economy and create at least 5 full-time US jobs;

• Invest $1,000,000 in a commercial enterprise that will benefit the US economy and create at least 10 full-time US jobs; OR

• Invest $500,000 in an EB5 regional investment center in a targeted employment area.

 

The most simple and common EB5 investor visa application involves investing $500,000 in an EB5 regional investment center.  The EB5 investor is not required to be active in the business if investing $500,000 in an EB5 regional investment center.  Thus, the EB5 investor is "simply" buying a green card for themselves and their immediate family (spouse and children).

EB5 regional investment centers generally are large private businesses that have fixed term projects or intend to sell the business in by private sale or public offering within 5 years or less.  Thus, EB5 investors are required to maintain their $500,000 investment in the regional investment center for a minimum of 5 years and then such money is usually returned with interest or a share of the profits.  

The only issue with such EB5 regional investment center related applications is the applicant must evidence that the $500,000 came from lawful sources.  Examples of lawful sources would be from employment, a business, inheritance, gift, loan, etc.  However, please note that the "original source" of such money must be lawful as well.  For example, a notorious drug dealer could not gift such money obtained from trafficking drugs to his son and then have such son use such money to invest in an EB5 regional investment center as such would be an "unlawful" source of funds.

EB5 regional investment centers do not guarantee your money back because like all investments, such EB5 investments also come with "risk".  However, all EB5 regional investment centers must go through scrutiny and thorough review of their business plan by USCIS before they can be approved as an official EB5 regional investment center.  Thus, most of the EB5 regional investment centers are a safe bet, but it is "always" recommend you do thorough due diligence prior to committing your funds to any investment. 

The USICS maintains a list of numerous "approved" EB5 regional investment centers that can be found on their website.  Please be aware there is an annual quota of only 10,000 EB5 investor visas per year made available worldwide to foreign nationals.

EB5 investor visa applications normally take 15 months to process depending on the completeness of the supporting documents and the caseload of the US Embassy in the country of residence.