EB-Investors: Invest in the U.S. to Get a Green Card in One Year's Time It has often been said that money can buy anything, and legal immigration to the U.S. is no exception. But guess what? You don't have to be a millionaire to get this visa, or to buy up 3,456 shares of stock in Microsoft! Instead, a small business-start-up could qualify you for immigration to the U.S. How exciting is that? One of the fastest ways to secure permanent residence in the United States is through an investment in a “Regional Center” program. While the waiting times for persons in the family-based categories range from five to 22 years, and those in the employment-based categories continue to retrogress, the EB-5 investor category is becoming more and more of an attractive option. The EB-5 investor category has been “current” (no backlog) since its inception in 1990. Many people assume that this is a category for millionaires only or that they will have to quit their jobs and establish a business enterprise with 10 employees in order to qualify. "Neither of these common misconceptions is true," immigration attorney Carl Shusterman points out. "In the mid-1990s, the INS created the Regional Center investment program which is ideal for inactive investors, retirees and many other potential immigrants due mainly to the 'indirect employment' feature of the program. The investor may be a 'limited partner''and 10 employees may be hired by the general partner under the less restrictive 'indirect employment creation' clause which allows the investor to qualify for a green card without personally hiring 10 persons. The investor need not even reside in the same part of the U.S. where the investment is located. "For example, the investor can place $500,000 in a real estate limited partnership. The money invested may either be the investor’s own funds or be in the form of a loan or a gift. "After the investor completes a thorough business and financial due diligence analysis of the viability of the business opportunity, the investment is made and an EB-5 petition is ted to the CIS. The processing time from submission to approval averages only three months. "Once the petition is approved, if the investor resides abroad, he applies for a green card at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in his country. If he resides in the U.S., he applies for adjustment of status. In either case, the average processing is approximately nine months. "As in a marriage case, the green card is conditional and expires in two years. About three months before the expiration of the two-year period, the investor must a petition to the CIS to confirm that the funds are still in place and the employment requirement has been maintained. After verifying this, the CIS issues the investor permanent residence status. "All in all, the entire process takes approximately 3 ½ to 4 years. Once the investor has a permanent green card, he is free to sell his stake in the investment if he wishes. "As with other U.S. immigration visas, investors need to take into account U.S. and foreign tax and other business and personal planning considerations. The Law Offices of Carl Shusterman links to a list of regional centers approved by the Immigration Service, and to the Web sites of regional centers located in California, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Washington State from the top drop-down navigation bar of their site. As the employment and family-based categories become increasingly backlogged, attorneys are seeing more and more people seeking legal consultations to find out how they can achieve permanent residence through the EB-5 regional center program.
