Due to the recent influx in inquiries about this Immigrant visas, I have decided to post a little summary and updates.
The EB-5, Green Card through investment, was created to promote investments in businesses and to create and preserve jobs in the U.S. You can become a lawful permanent resident by establishing a new commercial enterprise and provide full-time employment to at least ten U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents, or other immigrants with employment authorization.
Under section 203(b)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. § 1153(b)(5), 10,000 immigrant visas per year are available to qualified individuals seeking permanent resident status on the basis of their engagement in a new commercial enterprise.
Of these 10,000 visas, 5,000 are set aside for those who apply under a pilot program involving a CIS-designated “Regional Center.” A “Regional Center” is an entity, organization or agency that has been approved as such by the Service; focuses on a specific geographic area within the United States; and, seeks to promote economic growth through increased export sales, improved regional productivity, creation of new jobs, and increased domestic capital investment.
New Orleans attracted a Regional Center company certification a few years ago. In addition to New Orleans, designated “regional centers” exist in Philadelphia, Seattle, California’s Imperial Valley, eastern Washington state, Las Vegas, parts of Iowa and South Dakota, and the entire states of Hawaii and Vermont. Applications are currently pending for Milwaukee, Houston, northern Texas and southwestern Kansas.
Click here for the current regional center list Download file
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