EB-5 Regional Centre Program

EB-5 Investor Program History

The EB-5 immigrant investor program was created through the Immigration Act of 1990 by Congress with primary motive to increase significant funds in the US economy from foreign investors by offering lawful permanent resident status (a green card) whose business activities lead to creation of jobs for US workers.

The EB-5 visa is the only one that allows investor to apply directly for permanent resident status in return for investment in the US economy.

The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Pilot Program ("EB-5 IIPP") was created in 1992 by U.S. Congress. The central idea around which this program revolved was to bring large amounts of investment from foreign investors in order to fund businesses and infrastructure projects in geographically defined "regional centers". This investment is useful to create infrastructure, facilities, and capital for businesses that will lead to job creation and expand tax base of regions with unemployment 50 percent above the national average. The EB-5 program was further expanded and its scope increased in order to draw more attention of foreign investors by making it possible to get permanent residence by investing only $500,000 instead of $1,000,000. Thus, it was no longer necessary to manage the business on a daily basis (or even to live near the business). The EB-5 IIPP was seen as an vital tool by regional government development authorities and private enterprise to get substantial investment capital which would have been difficult to get from market due to vulnerable economic conditions.

How many number of immigrant visas are kept under EB-5 visa program?

The EB-5 program has a provision of 10,000 visas per year for aliens and family members who make investments that lead to creation of ten full-time jobs for U.S. workers. Out of this, 3000 visas are kept aside for foreign investors who invest in areas of high unemployment called the targeted employment areas (TEA), designated regional centers (RC), or other qualifying rural areas (RA).