The document provides information about the EB-5 visa program, which grants permanent residency to foreign investors who invest $500,000-$1,000,000 in a U.S. business or regional center. It will allow them to live and work in the U.S., apply for citizenship after 5 years, and provide immigration security for their families. The program has been extended multiple times and supporters are confident it will continue. It provides an alternative path to permanent residency for those willing to invest substantially in job creation opportunities in the U.S.

1. EB-5 Program Summary
https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-
states/permanent-workers/eb-5-immigrant-investor-
program
A Green Card or Permanent Residency gives the holder the right to live and
work anywhere in the US. There are many visa categories. Some allow you
to apply for a green card after you have been in the USA for a specific
period but most do not. The EB5 visa is unusual in that it provides you with
a green card at the outset. When you emigrate, you do so knowing that you
and your immediate family have Permanent Residency. You may apply for
citizenship after five years.
Work or retire, the choice is yours.
The current legislation enables EB5 Regional Center investors to retire to
the USA and provides families (parents and children under 21) with
immigration security, eliminating the need and worry of reapplying
periodically, as with most other visa categories. Permanent Residence
ensures that your children may go to school and apply to universities with
the same rights and at the same cost as US citizens.
It provides the flexibility to live anywhere, take any job, own and operate
any business and to change employment without restrictions.
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The EB-5 Regional Center Investment Program, which was re-introduced in
2003 for a period of five years, has had numerous extensions. The current
extension will terminate at the end of September 2015. Over the last few
years the program has gained popularity and, with enthusiastic bipartisan
support in Congress, we are confident of the program’s continuation. If
there is any change of status of the Program, we will keep you informed via
our EB-5 News page.
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2. EB-5 Visa – ‘The Investment Green Card’
The USCIS (the US Citizenship and Immigration Service) refers to this
category as an Investment Green Card since it is based on making a
substantial financial commitment to create additional employment in the
US.
The EB5 Visa, based on a qualifying US investment, apporoves you for a
green card before you emigrate. It does not require you to manage the day-
to-day affairs of a business; you may invest in an existing or a new
business; more than one person may invest and you may be a minority
owner.
With a Green Card, you may live anywhere in the US, no matter where the
investment is made, and are free to do whatever you wish, be it work, run a
business or retire.
You may qualify for an EB-5 visa in three different ways:
1. Invest $1,000,000 into a trading company and hire ten US
employees anywhere in the USA, or
2. Invest $500,000 and hire ten employees in an area where the
unemployment rate exceeds the national average by 150% or the
rural population is less than 20,000, or
3. Invest in a Government designated EB5 Regional Center and avoid
direct employment. The investment sum is usually $500,000, but in
some cases it is $1 million. A Regional Center is allowed to rely on
‘indirect’ employment, rather than direct employment.
American Life uses an economist to quantify sufficient indirect
employment before making its properties available to EB5 applicants. It
also has its EB-5 Regional Centers certified as a high unemployment areas,
which keeps the minimum required capital to $500,000.
Funds may come from any legal foreign or US source; including gifts, loans,
executive pension funds, trusts and divorce settlements. Whoever receives

3. the visa must make the investment. Borrowed investment funds qualify as
long as they are not secured by the assets of the target US investment.
The visa requirements are summarized at the USCIS web site
(www.uscis.gov) as the Fifth Preference under Permanent Workers. These
pages will open in separate windows. Please see our FAQ page for further
explanation of the EB5 process.
EB-5 Investors
This page in Simplified Chinese. (PDF, 270.61 KB)
This page provides an overview of the EB-5 petition and application process for immigrating
to the United States.
1. File Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Investor.
2. After we approve your Form I-526 petition, either:
o File DS-260, Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration, with
the U.S. Department of State to obtain an EB-5 visa abroad to
seek admission to the United States; or
o File Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust
Status, with USCIS to adjust status to a conditional permanent resident
within the United States. Once we approve your Form I-485 application or
upon admission into the United States with an EB-5 immigrant visa, we
will grant conditional permanent residence to the EB-5 investor and
derivative family members for a two-year period.
3. File Form I-829, Petition by Investor to Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident
Status, within the 90-day period immediately before the second anniversary of
your admission to the United States as a conditional permanent resident.
If USCIS approves this petition, we will remove the conditions from your lawful
permanent resident status and any dependents you included.
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4. Evidence and Supporting Documents to
submit with Form I-526, Immigrant Petition by
an Alien Investor
Evidence and Supporting Documents to
Submit with Form I-829, Petition by Investor to
Remove Conditions on Permanent Resident
Status