The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa: What is it and how is it attained?

The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa: What is it and how is it attained? The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa is one of the easiest and most flexible routes an immigrant can take if they are interested in gaining a United States green card visa (permanent residency).These visas are contingent on making an investment in the United States along with the creation, either directly or indirectly, of a set amount of full-time jobs.An applicant can attain one of these visas by satisfying any of the following criteria:1)      If the immigrant invests at least (1) one million dollars and hires at least ten direct employees anywhere in the United States; or2)      If the immigrant invests (5) five hundred thousand dollars and hires at least ten direct employees in an area of the United States  where the unemployment rate of that area exceeds the unemployment rate of the country (national unemployment rate) by a ratio of 1.5 to 1; or3)      If the immigrant invests in a Regional Center that has the ability to use direct, indirect and induced job creation.  It is important to make some notes in regard to these criteria.First, the immigrant does not necessarily have to manage the day-to-day operations of the business they start.Neither must they actually begin a new business; they may instead invest in an existing business as such that their investment facilitates the requisite amount of new jobs.The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has designated specific organizations as Regional Centers.These Centers are eligible to receive funds from an immigrant seeking an EB-5 investor visa.By contributing to one of these regional centers, immigrants are allowed to rely on a more indirect form of job creation, instead of just direct hiring of the employees that would be required to meet the criteria.In the case of investing in a Regional Center, an independent expert must verify the validity of the investment and its potential to create jobs.While some Regional Center investments require a (1) million dollar figure in order to be eligible, if the Regional Center is located in an area of high unemployment as outlined in criteria two, the required capital will then be reduced to $500,000.There are 10,000 of these immigrant investor visas available per calendar year, with 3,000 of those being designated for Regional Center investments.