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Miami Immigration Lawyer - EB-5 Investment Immigrant Visa

The EB-5 program grants two-year conditional visas to individuals seeking permanent residence based on their involvement in a new commercial enterprise. These visas are also available for the investors' immediate family members. Investors can qualify for an EB-5 visa in three ways:

• Under the first option, a foreign national is required to invest $1 million in a commercial enterprise. After the two-year conditional period has expired, the visa holder must prove that the enterprise directly created ten full-time U.S. jobs in order to receive legal permanent resident status.
• EB-5 visas are also issued to foreign nationals who invest $500,000 in enterprises located in rural areas - with populations of less than 20,000 - or in areas with unemployment rates at 150 percent or more of the national unemployment rate. As with the first option, the granting of legal permanent resident status is made contingent upon whether or not the enterprise directly created ten full-time U.S. jobs.
• Under a so-called "Immigrant Investor Pilot Program," foreign nationals can combine their investments in "regional centers." Investors may prove that their enterprises either directly or indirectly created ten U.S. jobs, and they must meet the employment requirement at the end of the two-year conditional period to qualify for adjustment to legal permanent resident status.

About 10,000 visas are set aside annually for the EB-5 program, with 3,000 of these reserved for the Immigrant Investor Pilot Program.  (8 U.S.C. 1153 (b)(5)).