- What is the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program?
- What are the benefits of the Green Card?
- Who is eligible to receive permanent residency (Green Card)?
- Are EB-5 visas available to persons from any country in the world?
- Where can I find copies of relevant forms, laws, and regulations to study?
- What is the difference between a “conditional” and a “permanent” Green Card?
- What issue typically causes the most problems when applying for an EB-5 visa?
- How long must I remain in the United States each year?
- What is the difference between permanent residency and citizenship?
- What’s the best way to lower risk in an EB-5 Investment?
- What is a New Commercial Enterprise (NCE)?
- What is a Job Creating Entity (JCE)?
- What is visa retrogression?
- What are “Reserved EB-5 Visas” or “Set-Asides”?
- What are “Unreserved” EB-5 Visas?
- What is the Sustainment Period?
- What are the steps for processing an EB-5 visa application?
- If my I-526E petition is approved by the USCIS, what is the purpose of the Consulate application and interview, and how soon do I get my Green Card?
- After petition approval, can members of the family interview in different countries?
- What is an “escrow” account and when does the investor transfer the money into this account?
- How does the bank escrow account protect me against the risk of losing my money?
- What is Concurrent Filing for I-485 Adjustment of Status and how does it benefit EB-5 Investors?
- Who is eligible for Concurrent Filing?
- When can I apply for US citizenship?
- Do investors need to be actively involved in the day-to-day activities of Regional Center Projects?
- What are the advantages of investing in a rural project in a Micropolitan Area?
- May I invest less capital in a Targeted Employment Area (TEA) Project?
- Do I have to live where the project is?
- Can I make money with my EB-5 Investment?
- How is the EB-5 loan model different than the equity model?
- What is the minimum required amount of capital to be invested in order to apply for an EB-5 visa?
- Must I have previous business experience or education?
- Must I speak English?
- What is meant by the requirement that the investor’s assets be “lawfully gained”?
- If I want to move to the United States and invest in an EB-5 project with Houston EB5 Regional Center, do I have to live in Texas?
- Can an EB-5 investor from a retrogressed country apply for Concurrent Filing?
- How many direct and indirect jobs do I need?
- Can I travel outside the US for extended periods after I get my green card?
- What is a Regional Center and what advantages do they offer to EB-5 investors?
- Who should invest in an EB-5 Regional Center project?
- What are Indirect and Induced Jobs?
- Why is Job Creation safer with a Regional Center Project?
- Do I get faster Processing of my I-526E Immigrant Petition if I invest in a Regional Center project?
- What makes Houston EB5 unique?
What is an I-526E Petition and how is it different from an I-526 Petition?
Before the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA) every EB-5 Investor had to file an I-526 Petition whether they were a direct project investor (“Standalone Investor”) or an investor of a Regional Center project. Essential elements of the I-526 Petition are source of funds support documents and a very detailed description of the project. An approvable project usually had several hundred pages of support documents that was to be submitted for every Regional Center project investor. This caused a lot of duplication and overloaded the adjudication process.
Post-RIA only Direct Project EB-5 Investors must file a Form I-526, “Immigrant Petition by Standalone Investor”, with all project support documents.
However, Regional Center EB-5 Investors now file a different form, I-526E, “Immigrant Petition by Regional Center Investor”. Since project documents are previously filed by the Regional Center with an I-956F form, the USCIS adjudicator will focus solely on your biographical and origin of funds documents. Since USCIS gives all the I-526E Petitions of one project to the same adjudicator, we are starting to see that after an I-956F project application is approved, the I-526E Petitions are approved rather quickly.
Also, if your project qualifies as a Rural Project, it will be given priority processing. We are starting to see I-956F Rural Project Applications approved in 4 to 6 months and individual I-526E Petitions a few months after.
