EB-5 visa<\/a> is an immigrant visa for those who wish to invest a minimum of $800,000 or $1,050,000 (depending on location) in a U.S. business that leads to the creation of at least 10 full-time jobs for U.S. workers.<\/p>\nAs an immigrant visa, this means that, upon approval of the EB-5 visa petition, the beneficiary is immediately entitled to a green card. Investors dependents (spouse and unmarried children under 21) will also be eligible to apply for permanent resident status.<\/p>\n
The minimum investment of $800,000 applies to what is called a \u201ctargeted employment area\u201d (TEA), defined as a geographic area that either has high unemployment (i.e., has an unemployment rate of at least 150% of the national average unemployment rate) or else is rural (i.e., is not located within a metropolitan statistical area or city\/town having a population of 20,000 people or more).<\/p>\n
The minimum investment of $1,050,000, by contrast, applies to all other geographic areas.<\/p>\n
In order for the 10 created U.S. jobs to be counted, each of the jobs must be full-time (i.e., 35 hours a week or more); be expected to last at least two years; and be granted to US citizens, permanent residents, and\/or other immigrants authorized to work in the US.<\/p>\n
Regardless of whether an EB-5 visa petitioner invests in a TEA or other area, there are also differences between regional center investments and direct investments.<\/p>\n
Regional center investments are investments where the investor is one of tens (if not hundreds) of other investors, and has little to no involvement in the day-to-day operations of the business.<\/p>\n
Instead, the investor invests in specialized companies that collect investment funds from multiple EB-5 investors to fund a large-scale project (such as hotels or arenas). In such investments, the 10 created full-time jobs need not be directly proven \u2014 instead, a mathematical equation is used by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to calculate anticipated total jobs, even those that are indirect and brought about by economic activity generated by other businesses attracted to the regional center.<\/p>\n
Direct investments are investments where the investor is usually the sole owner (or one of a few co-owners), and where the investor usually has significant control of the business and is actively involved in the day-to-day operations of the business. Essentially, it is any investment not made in a regional center. In such investments, the applicant must prove that 10 created full-time jobs were directly created by the investment.<\/p>\n
The EB-5 visa category is subject to a numerical cap. Within this numeric cap, 20% of EB-5 visas are reserved for those who invest in a rural area; 10% are reserved for those who invest in a high unemployment area; and 2% are reserved for those who invest in infrastructure projects.<\/p>\n
For Pakistani nationals wishing to circumvent this backlog by applying for the rural EB-5 category in particular, there is some good news: rural category investors have the added benefit of priority processing.<\/p>\n
Additionally, while the July 2024 visa bulletin states that Pakistani nationals have currently available visas for all reserved categories, it is important to take into account that the rural category is more likely to remain available in the near future because it accounts for a larger percentage of reserved spots and is also in less demand than reserved categories such as high unemployment areas.<\/p>\n
This is significant because it currently takes about 18 months on average for USCIS to process the EB-5 petition and another 6-12 months to process the associated green card petition (6 months if the applicant is adjusting status while already in the United States, and 8-12 months if consular processing while abroad).<\/p>\n