Securing permanent residency in the USA for Indians has become meaningfully tougher in the past 2 years. Traditionally, Indian workers have used the H-1B work visa as stepping stone to the green card, but that now entails up to a 14-year waiting line. Meanwhile, the H-1B visa itself has become increasingly restrictive and difficult to get for Indian workers, with companies demotivated to sponsor applicants due to the high cost and long wait times.

Today, one of the only remaining good solutions for Indians is the EB-5 Investor Visa.

The US Congress enacted the Employment Based Fifth (EB-5) Investor Visa category to encourage foreign investment into the country and create jobs for the US economy. In return for an investment US $1 million in a job-creating project, or $500,000 if that project is located in a so-called Targeted Employment Area, the investor and his or her immediate family all receive green cards. The only two strict requirements are (a) that the investment creates ten verified jobs, and (b) the money used is deemed to have been earned through legitimate means. The investment can be completely passive and the investor needs not to understand, visit, or work with the project – nor does the investor’s family need to live in the same state where the project is located. Finally, the investment is a loan, not a purchase — so the investor should expect to receive the capital back after 5 years, assuming they choose a safe project. As a result, the EB-5 program is considered the most flexible and cost-efficient Investor visa.

Citizens of many countries have been getting green cards through EB-5 for years, but Indians have only recently started to actively use this option. However, the recent popularity in India will eventually cause a backlog in this visa category as well. There is a total of 10,000 green cards available for EB-5 per year, but each country has a cap of only 700 of those visas. Thus, when there are more than 700 qualified and approved applicants, including family members, the applications over the cap get wait-listed to the following year for processing. As an example of things to come, the high demand from China and Vietnam has already pushed their backlogs to between 7-14 years. By comparison, the waiting time for Indian citizens is just 1 -2 years. But with surging interest, the backlog for Indians is expected to reach 3 – 4 years by the middle of 2019. So there is real value in moving expediently.

Seeking a green card via a passive EB-5 investment is a very attractive alternative for Indians. However it is not without risks – in fact the law stipulates that the investment has to be “at risk”.

There are three primary risks:

1. Financing Risk – the project fails to raise sufficient capital to achieve a proper financing. In this event, the investor potentially loses some or all of their capital and does not get a green card.
2. Completion Risk – the project is not completed, due to mismanagement, poor budgeting, or a change in economic circumstances. In this event, the investor potentially loses some or all of their capital and likely surrenders the chance to get a green card.
3. Jobs Risk – the project is unable to create the mandated number of direct and indirect jobs. In this event the investor forfeits the green card.

Although EB-5 is a great program for investors, it is critical that investors select a proven and safe project, which has a reasonable chance of success in terms of job creation and capital repayment.

In addition, there are also application-related risks. Therefore, it is highly recommended to choose a top immigration attorney to help compile and file the EB-5 petition. Applications can run from a few pages to a few hundred pages depending on the investor’s individual situation.

Further the project has already created more than the requisite number of jobs, mitigating the risk for investors regarding the eventual I-829 removal of conditions from their green cards. As a result, we believe this project to be a particularly prudent choice for our clients.

THE LARGEST PRIVATE MANUFACTURING PROJECT IN THE HISTORY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS

Supported by Former President Bill Clinton and Over USD $150 Million of Government Support, Big River Steel is an Exciting Opportunity for EB-5 Investors.

• Investor Visa category EB5 is a great option for investors looking for permanent residency in the USA. It has been around since 1990 but has only become popular in India recently due to the severe backlog of the H-1B visa process.
• EB-5 visa applications can be filed by anyone. One could be holding another visa category such as a student visa, business visa, tourist visa and still file an EB-5 petition in parallel. The Investor’s immediate family, including a spouse and any dependent children under 21 years of age, are processed under the investor’s application.
• The average current processing time for Indian applicants, from the time the I-526 is filed to getting a conditional green card is 20 months — 16 months for the adjudication and 3-4 months for green card processing.
• Each country has a quota of 700 per year for EB-5 green cards. In case the number of approved application increase beyond 700, the incremental applications enter the system backlog and are processed the following year. Similar logic applies if application number go beyond 1400. Thus the backlog can increase the conditional green card issuance time by a considerable amount of time. The current backlog for India is 1 to 2 years.
• EB-5 prohibits any sort of guarantee or insurance. Thus, the investor may stand to lose the green card or investment or both due to non-compliance or underperformance of the project.
• The total estimated cost for an EB-5 application for the whole family is approximately $575,000. This includes the principal investment, administrative charges, the regional center fee, immigration attorney fees, and USCIS filing fees.
• We work with a safe, Grade A, fully functional, multi-billion dollar, world class project for EB5. The project has not had any I-526 denials and has mitigated most project risks associated with the process.