Investors are able to obtain permanent residency (greencard) via the EB-5 Immigrant Visa. This isn’t to be confused with an E-1/E-2 Trader/Investor Visa, which is a non-immigrant visa (temporary).
Generally, the EB-5 Investor Visa requires two things:
1. An active investment of $1,000,000 (one million dollars) into a commercial enterprise
AND
2. Create 10 full time jobs for US citizens or LPR (permanent residents)
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The above description is VERY broad, but describes what one needs for an EB-5 visa.
The minimum investment can be lowered to half the amount, $500,000 (five hundred thousand dollars) if the investment is directed toward a “targeted employment area,” which is an area that has experienced unemployment of at least 150 per cent of the national average.
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Oftentimes, investors are directed towards an officially designated “Regional Center” — which essentially takes an investor’s funds and directs it in conformity with the EB-5 program. As I’ve noted before, the program has been temporarily extended. There is hope that the new administration will expand the Regional Center further. But more on that later.
Immigrating to America 