EB-5 Program

USCIS administers the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, which was created by Congress in 1990 to stimulate the U.S. economy through job creation and capital investment by foreign investors. Under a program first enacted as a pilot in 1992 and regularly reauthorized since then, investors may also qualify for EB-5 classification by investing through regional centers designated by USCIS based on proposals for promoting economic growth. On March 15, 2022, President Biden signed the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 (Public Law 117-103), which created new requirements for the EB-5 immigrant visa category and the Regional Center Program. Immigrant visas are authorized under the Regional Center Program through Sept. 30, 2027. The basic guidelines of the program require that a minimum investment of $800,000 to $1,050,000 be placed in a domestic enterprise that will create or retain a minimum of 10 jobs per investor. In exchange for this qualified investment, the immigrant investor receives an EB-5 visa providing permanent resident status for the investor, his/her spouse and any unmarried children up to the age of 21.

According to USCIS, a Regional Center:

• Is an entity, organization or agency that has been approved as such by the USCIS;
• Focuses on a specific geographic area within the United States; and
• Seeks to promote economic growth through increased export sales, improved regional productivity, creation of new jobs, and increased domestic capital investment.

In order to qualify under the EB-5 Program, petitioners must:

• Demonstrate that a “qualified investment” is being made in a new commercial enterprise located within an approved Regional Center; and,
• Show, using reasonable methodologies, that 10 or more jobs are actually created either directly or indirectly by the new commercial enterprise through revenues generated from increased exports, improved regional productivity, job creation, or increased domestic capital investment resulting from the pilot program.