You can get a Green Card to live and work in the United States and also increase your wealth through an investment immigrant visa. This visa opportunity, also known as EB-5, was created by Congress in 1990 though an immigration ACT. Among others, the ACT gave the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) the power to administer the visa program.
Current statistics show that foreign investors from China are among the leading users of this visa program. But investors from many parts of the world, including Nigeria, use it as well.
The visa allows investors from foreign countries to immigrate to and invest financial resources in viable investment platforms in the United States.
Under the law, a foreign investor can invest at least $500,000 into the United States economy, and because of the investment, come to the United States under a permanent resident immigrant visa. This means that the foreign investor can dump their financial resources into areas of the US economy, gain profits on the investment, if the investment does well, and get a visa that permits him and his spouse and children under 21 years old to reside, work, go to school, and live a happy life in the country.
The investment process can be direct or it can be through USCIS authorized regional centers. Under the direct investment approach, the investor must invest at least $1million and create at least ten full-time jobs for United States workers. The investment amount can be $500,000 if it is invested in a high unemployment or rural area of the United States.
The investment can also be through a regional center. Regional Centers are commercial entities that the USCIS has authorized to accept and manage EB-5 related investment funds. The centers accept foreign investor funds and manage them in ways that meet USCIS investor visa requirements. Simply explained, they make sure that the job creation and other requirements of the investor visa are met to enable the investor and his family get the immigrant visa.
Under the investor visa law, it is critically important that the source of the investor funds are investigated to find that they are clean and legally acquired.
The foreign investor visa gives the holder enviable immigration opportunities, such as travel in and out of the United States and reside in any part of the country. At the application phase, the foreign investor can also elect to be in or outside the United States while the visa is processed. If he choses to be in the country, he can travel in and out of the country under a government approved travel document.
Once the investor requirements are met, the foreign investor and his spouse and children under 21 can then apply for the immigrant visa on a Form I-526 together with all other evidence supporting his eligibility for the visa. If the USCIS is satisfied that all the visa conditions are met, it will grant the investor and his family a conditional Green Card for two years. After the two years, the investor is again required to file another petition to remove the condition. The petition is filed in the 90 days preceding the second anniversary of the conditional permanent resident visa grant. In this petition, the investor must prove that the business was created in the requisite investment amount and number of jobs. Once all the requirements are met, the USCIS removes the condition from the Green Card, and the investor and his family can reside, work, travel and live happily in the United States indefinitely. Best of all, after five years of the immigrant visa grant the investor and his family, if they choose to, can apply for US citizenship. The investor can also, at the end of five years from the date of his investment, remove his investment with all the dividends if the investment had yielded dividends.
The Swaray Law Office investment team can help you assess your eligibility for the visa, identify investment areas, investment commercial enterprises and process your immigrant visa application. This means that all you do is cooperate with the team in providing the requisite information needed to process your investor application and fund. If you are interested in an investor visa, and want to work with Swaray Law Office, contact us today by phone or fill out our contact message form at this website and send it to us.
