The EB-5 Program: What You Should Know

What is the EB-5 Program? For those unfamiliar with the EB-5, it is a program created for qualified foreign entrepreneurs (including their spouses and unmarried children under age twenty-one) to receive the benefit of being eligible to apply for a permanent residence, also known as a green card.

- Luciane Tavares

Essentially, in order to qualify, the foreign entrepreneur must: a) meet the requisite investment amount required to be made in a commercial enterprise within the United States; and b) plan to create or preserve ten (10) permanent full-time jobs for qualified U.S. workers.

In 1990, Congress created the EB-5 Program. In 1992, Congress created the Regional Center Program. The Regional Center Program created EB-5 visas reserved for foreign investors who participate in investing in commercial enterprises associated with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) approved regional centers that are derived from business proposals that promote growth for the United States economy.

With the current economy of the United States being relatively poor, with high rates of unemployment nationally, and those who are employed struggling with low pay and often little to no employment benefits, it is not uncommon for many fearful U.S. Citizens to question the advisability of an immigration policy supporting the EB-5 visa within the United States. The economic strain pushes many U.S. Citizens to fear the greater competition for jobs, which have become fewer and farther between, to find employment with. However, is the presence of more immigrants within the United States as large of a problem as many fear?

ECONOMY