Visas & Advice Detail
The retiring type
Though officially there is no American retirement visa for Brits, Anthony Olson introduces the EB-5 visa category – which can work in a similar way
When considering your options to emigrate permanently to the United States, the so-called EB-5 Immigrant Investor Pilot Programme (aka 'EB-5 Regional Centre Programme') is a path that you may want to consider.
This option is particularly interesting for investors who wish to retire in the US, or to pursue any other activity of their choice – including setting up a business and working for a US employer without requiring sponsorship or a specialty degree.
Investing in an EB-5
The EB-5 Regional Centre Programme requires an investment of $500,000 in one of approximately 20 Regional Centres spread throughout the US which have been approved by the US government as qualifying foreign investors for permanent residence based on their investment.
The Regional Centres vary in as far as their project offerings are concerned, but they are all bound by the immigration regulations that require the investor to prove that his or her investment will, directly or indirectly, create at least ten new full-time jobs.
The Regional Centres are located in so-called "targeted employment areas," which means areas where the unemployment rate is 50 per cent higher than the national average.
Multiple projects are carried out in each Regional Centre programme. The company that operates the Regional Centre forms and manages a limited partnership to carry out each project, and the immigrant investors become limited partners in the partnership. As the manager of the Regional Centre and of each limited partnership, the company operating the Regional Centre is responsible for operating the business and overseeing compliance with the immigration requirements; namely and above all, fulfilling the employment creation requirement described above.
The Regional Centres carry out projects as varied as: the renovation of urban commercial real estate; the construction of a nursing home; the economic development of former military bases; low-interest loans to finance the expansion or renovation of facilities for major companies or educational institutions; the production of industrial equipment and the development of the dairy industry.
The major requirement that the EB-5 investor must fulfil is that he or she can clearly document that the investment funds were obtained legally – for instance, from savings earned during their career, sale of property, inheritance, gift, or by any other legal means.
It is advisable to get an informed opinion about the various Regional Centres. this could be sought from an immigration attorney who has successfully processed EB-5 petitions. The immigration attorney will most likely advise you to have your own due diligence report prepared about the project of your choice, or, at least, they will share with you their opinion about the advantages and potential disadvantages of the different Regional Centres from an immigration perspective.
Waiting for retirement
The EB-5 immigrant petition is based on information provided by the Regional Centre about the project in which the applicant has invested $500,000 and on proving that the investor has legally earned or obtained the investment funds.
The Regional Centre's job-creation projections are based on an expert economist's report, in which the economist calculates the direct, indirect, and induced job creation using accepted economic models. This means that the limited partnership in which the immigrant investor invests does not have to hire its own employees, but rather see to it that the borrower of its loans or tenants in its property creates new full-time jobs, or that sufficient investments were made that – according to the economist's calculations – the creation of enough new full-time jobs was induced.
When the initial petition is approved, the applicant can either adjust their status in the US from non-immigrant visa status to immigrant status, or, if they live outside of the United States, then he or she applies for an immigrant visa at the US consulate in their country of residence.
Immigration processing times of the initial immigrant investor petition vary greatly, depending on which project one chooses to invest in – it can be anywhere from three to 12 months or more.
Renewing your green card
The initial green card is conditionally issued for two years. Prior to the expiration of the conditional green card, the investor must apply for removal of the conditions in order to receive the permanent green card. At this point the investor, relying on information from the Regional Centre, must prove that his or her investment has created ten new jobs, directly or indirectly, and that his or her funds remain invested in the given project.
Not all the Regional Centres will find it as easy to establish that ten new jobs have been created by your investment. Regional Centres that can qualify investors through indirect or induced job creation – based on the amount of investment made under the project, rather than actual jobs created by the limited partnership's borrower or tenant – have an advantage in this regard.
All in all, securing permanent residence in the US through investment in a Regional Centre is less demanding on the immigrant than other immigration options. The investment is secure, to a degree, and the investor does not need to operate a business which might qualify them for the green card through individual job creation.
Ultimately, the US government has instituted the immigrant investor programme in the US to further job creation in disadvantaged areas, and the companies that manage the individual Regional Centres have a major financial interest in guaranteeing that their programme is successful.
Anthony Olson is an immigration attorney and runs his own law firm in Sarasota, Florida.
Anthony can be contacted through his website: www.immigrationvisausa.com