August 23rd, 2010 |
Many families wishing to live in the USA consider the relative advantages and disadvantages of the E2 and EB-5 visas.
In some cases the choice comes down to the funds they have available or wish to utilize. The EB-5 requires an investment of $500,000 in a program operated by a Regional Center authorized by the U.S. government. The E2 visa is likely to cost much less, indeed many families have paid in the region of $150,000 to $200,000 to purchase a suitable business qualifying for the E2.
However, a key implication that is not always realized is that the E2 visa does not provide the family with permanent residence. A senior American Consular official is reported as saying –
‘I would also like to point out that a non immigrant (E2) visa is not a good option for someone who intends to reside permanently in the United States. If the investor retires or sells their investment, his or her visa status lapses and he or she must leave the US. Only single dependent children under 21 are eligible for visas to accompany their investor parent, and when these children turn 21 they lose their status as a dependent and their visa. The more secure option for those that have the necessary capital is the permanent resident [green card EB5] investor visa. In this case the required investment is one million dollars, or under certain circumstances $500,000.’ John Caulfield, Consul General, US Embassy London.
There have been a number of well reported cases of families and/or their children having to leave the USA due to the E2 visa failing to be renewed. This can still happen even after the family may have lived in America for many years when perhaps their children know no other way of life.
Indeed the situation regarding the limitations has become so notorious that a petition signed by many E2 visa holders, desperate to remain in America, has been drawn up for presentation to Congress.
The New York Times recently reported an unfortunately typical scenario where a family who had been operating a business on an E2 visa for nine years had the renewal of their E2 visa refused. This left them no option other than to return back to the country that had left nearly a decade earlier.
Of course, many do not have the $500,000 required to make the investment for the EB-5 visa. However, for those that do, the fact that it provides permanent residence status is an enormous benefit in many ways.
- Full permanent residency rights apply.
- In certain states you pay lower property tax costs and your children pay lower tuition rates at many Colleges and Universities.
- Children do not have to leave the USA once they turn 21.
Depending upon your circumstances the EB-5 could be seen as an inexpensive option. The one visa covers the entire family, applicant, spouse and all their children under 21. Select the right regional center and not only should you get your $500,000 back at a point in the not too distant future, you may also get a return on your investment. The same cannot be said with confidence about the E2 visa, particularly in the current economic climate.
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Tags: America, congress, E2, eb-5, New York Times, permanent residence, regional center, USA, visa
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
August 20th, 2010 |
As the EB-5 visa has become increasingly popular among people looking to immigrate to the USA, questions are being raised about the quality of advice they are receiving. Is it impartial and what are the motives behind the information they are given?
By way of background, the EB-5 visa has a pilot program which is due to end in 2012. The program requires an investment of $500,000 which needs to be in one of approximately 100 government approved regional centers. These regional centers need to create ten jobs per investor in what is termed a Targeted Employment Area (TEA), in areas of specific higher unemployment.
The attractiveness of the visa program is that it can provide one of the fastest routes to permanent residency (Green Card) in the USA for the applicant, their spouse and children.
Many potential applicants who seek impartial and independent advice on the advantages and disadvantages of the various EB-5 programs tend to approach attorneys or consultants to provide them with the facts. However, recent feedback has highlighted issues with some of the advice that is given.
EB-5 applicants require detailed specific legal advice on the visa itself. There are a number of specialized immigration attorneys who have successfully processed multiple EB-5 applications. Interestingly a number of the most respected and experienced of these specialist attorneys have voiced concern over a possible conflict of interest if the EB-5 attorney/lawyer also recommends a particular regional center investment (which pays them a finder’s fee) as well as carrying out the applicants legal work.
Another consideration may be how much knowledge the attorney has on the pros and cons of the various centers. It certainly is more difficult to know all the ins and outs of the various centers without visiting them and having a good look around, how many attorneys have done that?
Applicants also may turn to consultants who specialize in the EB-5 visa for advice and again there have been concerns raised about the actions of some of these people.
Problems may occur if consultants only work with one or two centers and are in reality agents of those centers. Given that there have been issues with some regional center programs leading to rejection of visa applications, as well as instances of funds being allegedly stolen, it is important to get all the facts from ethical experienced EB5 consultants with a proven track record.
There are also concerns if consultants have a potential conflict of interest in that they also market their services to regional centers to advise them, provide marketing or sales advice, or set out to recruit applicants for them. Concern is focused on a possible conflict of interest if a consultant is being paid an advisory fee by one or more regional centers and giving advice on how to target applicants as well as providing, on the face of it, impartial advice to prospective applicants.
One of the few published books on immigration using the EB-5 suggests, when selecting an EB5 consultant, the following questions should be asked:-
- Do you also provide paid advice to any regional centers?
- Have you ever been paid to advise regional centers?
- Do you have an immigration attorney working with you who has made multiple successful EB-5 applications to different regional centers?
- How many successful and unsuccessful EB-5 applicants have you advised?
- Which countries do these applicants come from, can we speak to them?
- Have any of your senior officers ever had any convictions or citations or debars from any national, state business or professional organization?
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Tags: attorney, consultants, eb-5, green card, immigrate, permanent residence, pilot program, regional center, USA, visa
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
August 19th, 2010 |
The EB-5 regional center pilot program visa provides the opportunity for green cards and permanent residency in the USA for the applicant, their spouse and children under 21. The U.S. government, through The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has so far approved approximately 100 regional centers to offer programs that qualify for this visa which requires an investment of $500,000 if the program is in a Targeted Employment Area (TEA).
One of the questions sometimes asked by potential applicants is do I have to live in the area that I invest in? The simple terms answer is no. Under the regional center pilot program you are free to invest in any of the regional center programs and can live wherever you want, regardless of where you invest.
Having established you do not need to invest where you live, it is worth examining why you would even want to.
It is a reasonable assumption that most families looking at the EB-5 regional center route to permanent residency in the USA, wish to invest in program that best matches their priorities and requirements, which according to leading EB-5 consumer advocates, has:-
- A good track record of approvals.
- Clear evidence that the program will create 10 jobs per investor, or in certain cases save jobs, and return the $500,000 investment.
- A fixed term so they know exactly when their investment will be returned.
Most don’t want
- Ambiguity regarding the term, particularly in the current economic climate
- A project that has experienced refusals, particularly at the I-829 stage. (This relates to the removal of conditions after two years).
- A center currently experiencing litigation or potential shut down by USCIS.
- Directors with an ambiguous or troubled history.
- A regional center program that simply views the program as an easy and cheap way to raise cash, from captive and unprepared overseas investors.
As you can from the above criteria, the key is to find the best program to match your requirements rather than focusing on a program in the location you are planning to reside in. It is imperative you chose the most appropriate regional center program regardless of where it is located, as you require it to work, so the necessary jobs are created, the program succeeds and your investment is returned. It is pointless choosing a program in the area you are planning to live in unless it can deliver these essential requirements.
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Tags: eb-5, green card, I-829, permanent residence, pilot program, regional center, USA, uscis, visa
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
August 5th, 2010 |
 Familia venezolana empleó la visa EB-5 para conseguir el derecho a residencia permanente en EE.UU. Venezuelan family successfully use EB-5 visa to gain permanent residence in the USA
Una familia procedente de Venezuela buscaba un programa del centro regional que le ofreciese una estrategia de salida con un límite de tiempo determinado. Logramos identificar un programa que reuniese sus requisitos y, tras realizar la solicitud, consiguieron el estatus de residentes permanentes gracias al programa. Se nos ha solicitado que no proporcionemos más datos.
Venezuelan family successfully use EB-5 visa to gain permanent residence in the USA
A family from Venezuela wanted a regional center program that had a time specific fixed exit strategy. We successfully identified a program that matched their criteria and they successfully applied and obtained permanent residence status through the program. We have been requested not to provide further information.
Read more EB-5 Success Stories here
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Tags: eb-5, permanent residence, regional center, Venezuelan, visa
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
August 4th, 2010 |
 The EB-5 visa has been available in its current format for several years and as a result there is a fair amount of evidence to draw on regarding its success, as well as some failures.
For those of you considering the EB-5 as your gateway to permanent residence in the USA you will need to invest $500,000 in one of many government approved regional center programs typically for five to six years. In return, if you fulfill the requirements of investing in specific areas, and the program creates ten jobs per investor, you, your spouse, and children under 21 get to achieve permanent residency (Green Card) status in the USA.
Those brave pioneers who first used the EB5 route some six years ago are now in a position to have received their investment back and obtain US citizenship if they so choose. Going back six years there were literally only a handful of programs available to choose from. These programs still exist, but only one has repaid their initial investors in full. That program had a clear and fixed exit strategy covering repayment of the investment.
So, for many people, that raises the question; will I get my money back? The answer in the case of that project is yes. However, in the case of other centers, without that clear exit strategy in writing, there is still no answer.
The EB5 investor visa program has many benefits but an ongoing problem remains for those that seek information direct from the regional centers rather than experienced independent advisers. The regional centers want, and indeed need to sell places and sometimes they may be economical with the facts in order to win you over and steal you away from a competing regional center project.
For example, are you in a hurry to obtain your EB5 visa? If so you may be drawn to a particular regional center that makes a number of claims including that it has a faster processing time. Here is a direct quote from their website and promotional material:
“Credibility of the State of XXXXXXX with governmental responsibility and oversight means that investors’ petitions are given priority by CIS, resulting in a faster path to approval”
Enquiries into the accuracy of this statement by independent EB5 investigators to the USCIS (the U.S. Government) resulted in the following response:
“XXXXXXX Regional Center petitions are not given priority over other Regional Center petitions”.
Are any other statements on that website inaccurate? I’ll leave you to be the judge.
Another regional center claim a100% track record but there has been a number of refusals which are not highlighted in their sales material.
Sometimes families researching the various EB5 programs are attracted by well known names associated with particular regional centers yet with a little help it is not difficult to discover there a number of less well known, mundane, and frankly boring programs with excellent track records, well thought through, and certainly in the current economic climate, worthy of attention.
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Tags: citizenship, eb-5, eb5, green card, investor visa, permanent residence, regional center, USA, visa
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
July 26th, 2010 |
 Esta familia de cinco miembros (padre, madre y tres hijos) residía en California con una visa E2 que vencía al cabo de un año. Estaban interesados en la visa EB-5 como la mejor ruta para obtener el derecho a residencia permanente. La familia ya dirigía una próspera empresa multinacional y deseaba hacer de California su residencia permanente. Los niños estaban perfectamente integrados en el sistema educativo y temían que la visa E2 no les proporcionase la seguridad de hacer de EE.UU. su hogar a largo plazo. Tras considerar las diferentes opciones, la familia expresó su preferencia por el programa del centro regional con sede en California. Optaron por un programa acreditado que ya había resultado atractivo a inmigrantes de diferentes naciones (algunos programas suelen atraer principalmente a inversores chinos, lo cual puede tener implicaciones importantes que es necesario considerar). La familia utilizaba los servicios de un abogado de experiencia demostrada, y recibieron la aprobación al cabo de tres meses. Hemos seguido en contacto y revisado los problemas con los que se fueron encontrando posteriormente, para que futuros inversores se puedan beneficiar de su experiencia. — This family of five, father mother and three children were living in California on an E2 visa that was due to expire the following year. They were interested in the EB-5 visa as the best route to gain them permanent residency status. The family already operated a successful multinational business and wanted to make California their permanent home. The children were doing well in the school system and they were concerned that the E2 visa did not provide them with the ongoing long term security to make their home in the USA. After considering the various options the family expressed a preference for a regional center program based in California. They opted for a proven program that had proved attractive to immigrants from a wide variety of nations (Some programs tend to attract mainly Chinese investors which can have some important implications; you need to be aware of).The family used a proven and experienced Attorney and received approvals within three months. We have continued to keep in touch and checked out issues that have cropped up with them for the benefit of new investors.
Read more EB-5 Success Stories here
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Tags: california, E2, eb-5, permanent residence, regional center, USA, visa
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
July 23rd, 2010 |
 The family who had been looking for the best way to achieve permanent residency in America, decided to use all the facilities of WhichEB5 to thoroughly research all the various proven EB-5 programs. They wished to look in-depth across a range of programs in particular the likelihood of the necessary jobs being created in time to ensure the removal of conditions at I-829 stage. We identified for the family that although some centers seemed to indicate their affiliation with State Government this was giving a misleading impression in relation to the guarantee or otherwise of the actual return of the investment. We had a long video consult as a first step then met with them for a detailed face to face follow-up.
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Tags: America, eb-5, guarantee, I-829, investment, jamaican, misleading, permanent residence, state government, visa, Which EB-5
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
July 21st, 2010 |
 An Irish family who had significant agricultural holdings had been monitoring the progress of the EB-5 visa for several years. They had originally purchased property on the east coast of Florida and taken lengthy holidays to see how they would adjust to the American way of life. They then purchased other properties for rental, taking advantage of the bottoming of the property market and to build an earnings portfolio for eventual relocation. They required a visa route that offered permanent residency and green cards for all the family, and wished to increase their property portfolio once they had resettled in Florida. After a detailed briefing with us they decided the EB5 pilot program was the most appropriate option and looked into the various programs in more detail. They emphasized that they required a program which had not suffered from long delays caused by requests for further evidence (RFE’s), they were also concerned that the program had been operating for several years, complied with job requirements and had a clear and specific exit strategy. After investigating the alternatives and narrowing them down to two options they opted for a project which to date has a 100% track record of approval. Following clarification on a number of issues they invested $500,000 – there where additional administration and attorney fees. The family required an Attorney based in Florida with a track record of working on EB-5 applications and also had a number of questions for us regarding possible locations to resettle in, the schooling system, removals, property, transfer of pets, health coverage etc. The I-526 approval took three months and the couple were then interviewed at the U.S. Consulate and granted visas.
Read more EB-5 Success Stories here
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Tags: attorney, consulate, eb-5, exit strategy, florida, green card, I-526, Irish, permanent residence, Relocation, removal of conditions, visa
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
July 12th, 2010 |
 A British couple, who had spent many happy holidays with their children in Orlando Florida over the past twenty years, had been looking at ways they might be able to retire permanently in the U.S. but were concerned that their only options apparently related to the E2 and L1 visas (which do not allow or guarantee permanent residence). They were also concerned that the attorneys they spoke with, focused only on the legal aspects but were not really listening to their personal requirements, including their wide ranging concerns on their retirement in America. I-526 approval took several months and the couple were then interviewed at the U.S. Consulate in London and granted immigrant visas. The couple have subsequently had their I-829 removal of conditions granted and have settled very happily in the Florida way of life playing a lot of tennis and golf and making friends has as they say “made them more active and busier than they were in the UK “.
Read more EB-5 Success Stories here
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Tags: attorneys, british, E2, eb-5, I-526, I-829, L1, permanent residence, removal of conditions, retire, visa
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
June 29th, 2010 |
 Is the E2 visa really an option to the EB-5 visa? We have decided in this blog to let someone else do the talking rather than us, in this case an interesting and important article from the New York Times.
For a long time we have discussed issues that concern us regarding the E2 visa which, unlike the EB-5 visa, does not provide permanent residence. We write often about the difficulties that can be experienced with the E2. Indeed Consular officials in the past have gone on record and said the E2 is not a suitable visa for those seeking permanent residence in the USA.
This article from the New York Times sets out one unfortunately typical example of why we are so concerned about the E2 visa. New York Times Article about the dangers of the E2 visa
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Tags: E2, eb-5, New York, permanent residence, USA, visa
Posted in Immigration | No Comments » |
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