Source: http://www.immigration.com/greencard/eb5-green-card/eb-5-investment-green-card
Timestamp: 2019-04-26 00:30:55+00:00

Document:
The EB-5 category requires an investment of $500,000 to $1,000,000 in a new commercial enterprise that will benefit the US economy and produce ten full time jobs for workers unrelated to the EB-5 petitioner. (In certain circumstances the purchase or expansion of an existing business may qualify.) Under section 203(b)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(5), 10,000 immigrant visas per year are available to qualified individuals seeking permanent resident status on the basis of their engagement in a new commercial enterprise.
Once the EB-5 petition is approved, the investor becomes a conditional resident for two years and once the conditions are removed, a permanent resident.
Click here for a list of current EB-5 (Immigrant Investor) Regional Centers by state.
Minimize or eliminate risk to the investor.
Potential investors are encouraged to seek professional advice when making any investment decisions.
relating employment within a targeted employment area.
In order to become a lawful permanent resident, eligible investors must file a Form I-829, Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions. Form I-829 must be filed within 90 days before the second anniversary of an Alien Investor’s admission to the United States as a conditional resident.
In its effort to spur job creation through a wide variety of businesses and projects, the EB-5 Program has presented a broad definition of what constitutes a “new” commercial enterprise into which the immigrant investor can invest the required amount of capital and help create jobs.
The EB-5 Program defines “new” as “established after November 29, 1990.” 8 C.F.R. § 204.6(e). The immigrant investor can invest the required amount of capital in a commercial enterprise that was established after November 29, 1990 to qualify for the EB-5 Program, provided the other eligibility criteria are met.
The immigrant investor can invest in an existing business, regardless of when that business was first created, provided that the existing business is simultaneously or subsequently restructured or reorganized such that a new commercial enterprise results. 8 C.F.R. § 204.6(h)(2). The facts of Matter of Soffici—where an investor purchased a Howard Johnson hotel and continued to run it as a Howard Johnson hotel—were not sufficient to establish a qualifying restructuring or reorganization. 22 I&N Dec. 158, 166 (Assoc. Comm’r 1998) (“A few cosmetic changes to the decor and a new marketing strategy for success do not constitute the kind of restructuring contemplated by the regulations, nor does a simple change in ownership.”). On the other hand, examples that could qualify as restructurings or reorganizations include a plan that converts a restaurant into a nightclub, or a plan that adds substantial crop production to an existing livestock farm.
The immigrant investor can invest in an existing business, regardless of when that business was first created, provided that a substantial change in the net worth or number of employees results from the investment of capital. 8 C.F.R. § 204.6(h)(3).
[A] 40 percent increase either in the net worth, or in the number of employees, so that the new net worth, or number of employees amounts to at least 140 percent of the pre-expansion net worth or number of employees.
Investment in a new commercial enterprise in this manner does not exempt the immigrant investor from meeting the requirements relating to the amount of capital that must be invested and the number of jobs that must be created. 8 C.F.R. § 204.6(h)(3).
For purposes of the Form I-526 adjudication and the job creation requirements, the two-year period described in 8 C.F.R. § 204.6(j)(4)(i)(B) is deemed to commence six months after the adjudication of the Form I-526. The business plan filed with the Form I-526 should reasonably demonstrate that the requisite number of jobs will be created by the end of this two-year period.

References: § 1153
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