There are several different categories through which an individual can qualify for an Immigrant Visa. Foreign nationals who invest large sums of capital into commercial investments in the United States may be eligible to file an Immigrant Petition under the Fifth Employment Based category (EB-5) for purposes of Immigrant Visa availability. Generally, in order to qualify for this kind of Immigrant Petition, the applicant must invest or be actively in the process of investing at least $1,000,000 into a US commercial enterprise which will create full time employment for no fewer than 10 qualified individuals.
There are two main caveats to these requirements. The minimum size of the investment is reduced to $500,000 where the investment is being made in areas considered to have high unemployment rates, rural areas as designated by the Office of Management and Budget, or in USCIS approved Regional Centers. Also, the employment creation requirement is waived where a business has been in existence for at least two years, has lost 20 percent of its net worth over the past 12 to 24 months, and continues to maintain the number of employees at no less than the pre-investment level for a period of at least two years.
The Bae Law Group understands that these investment-based Immigrant Petitions have received a great deal of increased scrutiny over that past several years. The USCIS will approve these petitions, so long as the investor can clearly document the source and amount of their funds, the nature of the enterprise, and the satisfaction of the employment requirements. The Bae Law Group carefully documents investment-based Immigrant Petitions to ensure the USCIS clearly understands the validity of each petition.
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