EB-5
EB5 Process
I-526
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First, you will file Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Investor.
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After USCIS approves your Form I-526 petition, either:
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You will file DS-260, Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration, with the U.S. Department of State to obtain an EB-5 visa abroad to seek admission to the United States; or
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You will file Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status, with USCIS to adjust status to a conditional permanent resident within the United States. Once USCIS approves your Form I-485 application or upon admission into the United States with an EB-5 immigrant visa, USCIS will grant conditional permanent residence to the EB-5 investor and derivative family members for a two-year period.
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Then, You will file Form I-829, Petition by Investor to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status, within the 90-day period immediately before the second anniversary of your admission to the United States as a conditional permanent resident.
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If USCIS approves this petition, USCIS will remove the conditions from your lawful permanent resident status and any dependents you included.
Evidence and Supporting Documents to submit with Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by an Alien Investor
You will submit Form I-526 if you are an investor who wishes to immigrate to the United States.
I-526 Requirements
New Commercial Enterprise
You must submit evidence that you have invested in, or are actively in the process of investing in, a “for profit” new commercial enterprise that was established:
After Nov. 29, 1990, or
On or before Nov. 29, 1990, that was:
Purchased (and the existing business is restructured or reorganized in such a way that a new commercial enterprise results); or
Expanded through the investment, resulting in at least a 40% increase in the net worth or number of employees.
If applicable, you must submit evidence that an individual or entity established the new commercial enterprise and, if you seek eligibility under the reduced investment amount, you must also submit evidence of the targeted employment area (TEA).
For the definition of a TEA and information about investment amounts, see About the EB-5 Visa Classification.
Managing the New Commercial Enterprise
You must submit evidence that you are, or will be, managing the new commercial enterprise (either through day-to-day managerial control or through policy formulation).
Investment
You must submit evidence that you have invested or are actively investing the required amount of capital.
You must submit evidence that the investment capital was obtained through lawful means.
The petition must be accompanied, as applicable, by:
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Foreign business registration records;
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Corporate, partnership (or other entity), and personal tax returns, or other tax returns of any kind you or someone on your behalf filed within the last 5 years, including any taxing jurisdiction in or outside the United States;
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Evidence identifying any other source of capital; or
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Certified copies of any judgments or evidence of all pending civil or criminal actions, governmental administrative proceedings, and any private civil actions (pending or otherwise) involving money judgments against you from any court in or outside the United States within the past 15 years.
Job Creation
You must submit evidence that the new commercial enterprise will create at least 10 full-time positions for qualifying employees. If the entity responsible for job creation has not documented the requisite employees, you must submit a comprehensive business plan showing that, due to the nature and projected size of the new commercial enterprise, the need for at least 10 qualifying employees will result.
Job Preservation--Troubled Business
You must submit evidence that the number of existing employees is, or will be, maintained at no less than the pre-investment level for at least 2 years.
You must submit the following documents of
photocopies of tax records;
Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification; or other relevant documents for the qualifying employees,
and a comprehensive business plan in support of the petition.
Evidence and Supporting Documents to Submit with Form I-829, Petition by Investor to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident Status
You must submit Form I-829 within the 90-day period immediately before the second anniversary of your admission to the United States as a conditional permanent resident.
I-829 Requirements
Evidence of Investment
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You must submit evidence that you invested in, or are actively investing in, a new commercial enterprise. This evidence may include copies of the business’ organizational documents and federal tax returns.
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You must submit evidence that you have invested, or are actively investing, the required amount of capital. Such evidence may include an audited financial statement or other probative evidence.
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You must submit evidence that you have sustained your investment in the new commercial enterprise throughout your 2 years of conditional permanent residence. This evidence may include:
Invoices and receipts;
Bank statements;
Contracts;
Business licenses;
Federal or state income tax returns; and
Federal or state income quarterly tax statements.
Evidence of Job Creation
You must submit evidence that you created, or will create, within a reasonable time, 10 full-time jobs for qualifying employees.
Such evidence may include:
Payroll records;
Relevant tax documents; and
Forms I-9 for employees.
Job Preservation--Troubled Business
Supporting Documents
You must submit the same documentation for job creation listed above, but the evidence must show that the commercial enterprise maintained the number of existing employees at no less than the pre-investment level for the period following the investor’s admission as a conditional permanent resident.
What are Capital Investment Requirements?
Capital means cash and all real, personal, or mixed tangible assets owned and controlled by the immigrant investor.
All capital will be valued at fair-market value in U.S. dollars.
Examples of Capital
The definition of capital does not include:
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Assets acquired, directly or indirectly, by unlawful means (such as criminal activities);
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Capital invested in exchange for a note, bond, convertible debt, obligation, or any other debt arrangement between the immigrant investor and the new commercial enterprise;
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Capital invested with a guaranteed rate of return on the amount invested; or
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Capital invested that is subject to any agreement between the immigrant investor and the new commercial enterprise that provides the immigrant investor with a contractual right to repayment, except that the new commercial enterprise may have a buy back option that may be exercised solely at the discretion of the new commercial enterprise.
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Immigrant investors must establish that they are the legal owner of the capital invested. Capital can include their promise to pay (a promissory note) in certain circumstances.
Amount change
Before 3/15/2022: Minimum investment amount is $1,000.000.
Before 3/15/2022: Targeted employment area investment amount is $500,000.
Before 3/15/2022: High employment are investment amount is $1,000,000
On or After 3/15/2022: Minimum investment amount is $1,050.000.
On or After 3/15/2022: Targeted employment area investment amount is $800,000. It includes infrastructure projects.
On or After 3/15/2022: High employment are investment amount is N/A.
Future adjustments
Future adjustments will be tied to inflation using the change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) from March 15, 2022, to the date of adjustment.
These adjustments will occur every five years, with the first such adjustment effective for petitions filed on or after Jan. 1, 2027.
Targeted employment area
A targeted employment area can be, at the time of investment, either:
(1) A rural area; or
(2) An area that has experienced high unemployment (defined as at least 150% of the national average unemployment rate).
A rural area is any area other than an area within a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) (as designated by the Office of Management and Budget) or within the outer boundary of any city or town having a population of 20,000 or more according to the most recent decennial census of the United States.
High-unemployment area
A high-unemployment area consists of the census tract or contiguous census tracts in which the new commercial enterprise is principally doing business, which may include any or all directly adjacent census tracts, if the weighted average unemployment for the specified area based on the labor force employment measure for each tract is 150% of the national unemployment average.
Regional center investors
Are you interested in regional center?
Regional center investors may choose to invest in a new commercial enterprise engaged in an infrastructure project.
An infrastructure project is a capital investment project in a filed or approved business plan, which is administered by a governmental entity (such as a Federal, State, or local agency or authority) that is the job-creating entity contracting with a regional center or new commercial enterprise to receive capital investment under the regional center program from alien investors or the new commercial enterprise as financing for maintaining, improving, or constructing a public works project. of these set-aside visas that go unused are held in the same set-aside category for one more fiscal year.
After the second fiscal year, any remaining unused immigrant visas in these set-aside categories are released to the unreserved EB-5 immigrant visa numbers during the third fiscal year.
If you want to check the regional centers approved by USCIS, please see the following information.