EB-5 Visas

EB-5 Visa Lawyers

The EB-5 Investor/Job-Creation Visa Program

There is a great deal of information in the marketplace about the EB-5 Immigrant Investor visa, much of which has only recently come to the forefront in the immigration media. Our firm’s Managing Member has been an American Immigration Lawyer since 1994 — the EB-5 petition has always been among the platform of immigration services offerings.

In 1990, the US Congress enacted the provision that grants permanent residency to an investor (and family) who invests US$1MM “at-risk” capital in a new enterprise (US$500k in a Targeted Employment Area) that the foreign investor will personally manage full time towards creation of a fixed number of US jobs. Later versions of the act allowed the threshold investment to be applied to existing businesses that required capital infusion to both create and/or maintain US worker employment. This is the core concept of the EB-5 visa application.

In 1992 a pilot program was created for the “Regional Center” program by which the foreign investor could defer much management of the invested enterprise to a regional center management team of which the investor was still an “at-risk” investor. The Regional Center program is not a new program. However, this pilot program has met with some success as well and gained notoriety over the last few years.

“Our firm’s standing principal on EB-5 Investor Visas has been and always will remain — before a client commits investing with a Regional Center, as with any investment, the investor’s due diligence is key and must be priority due to potential risk of loss, including loss of both the visa and the capital invested. The Regional Center pilot program, now extended through September 2015, has become a preferable investment method for many EB-5 investors.”

Some industries in which we have information and have conferred with Regional Center representatives include the following:

  •  Holiday Ski and Summer Resorts
  •  Commercial and Residential Real Estate Development
  •  Federal, State and Local Government Infrastructure Investments
  •  Wine Growers Consortium
  •  Several other regional center industries are growing and are available.

Regional Center Program

Depending upon a client’s interest in this investment program, we also assist in establishing a new consortium program under the Regional Center model. Under the current regulations, a qualified petitioner can propose to establish a new ” regional center” designed to promote economic growth through increased export sales, improved regional productivity, job creation, or increased domestic capital investment.

Once established, this regional center can solicit investments from other foreign nationals interested in investing in the US in exchange for the permanent US residency. Our firm welcomes discussing this American business immigration and investment strategy with prospective clients.

An Investor’s choice of which EB-5 program to work with can be complex. Our firm continues to build our Regional Center information comparison data sheets to give Bayne Law Group clients an advantage when investigating EB-5 options. Contact us for further information.