In 1990, the US Government created the Immigrant Investor Program as the fifth preference category for employment-based immigration, also known as the EB-5 Visa. The purpose of the program is to stimulate job creation in the United States through capital investment by immigrant investors. By investing the prescribed amount, a foreign investor may obtain Lawful Permanent Resident status while investing in the world’s strongest economy.
The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program is available to those immigrants who have invested, or are in the process of investing, at least $1 million in a new commercial enterprise employing at least 10 full-time U.S. workers. Additionally, individuals who invest in an area of high unemployment, known as targeted employment areas or TEA’s, may invest a minimum of $500,000. Whether investing $1 million or $500,000, each investor has to prove that his or her investment funds are from a lawful source and will create 10 new full-time jobs for qualified US workers.
