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Take a look at the criteria for the EB-5 program and see if it’s the right match for you. 

• You are able to invest the required minimum amount (starting at $800,000 + syndication fees, depending on the location of the project)
• Your investment through American Life finances a development project in the United States that will create a minimum of 10 full-time jobs per investor for U.S. workers 
• You are able to demonstrate that your investment funds come from a lawful source
• You have a willingness to place capital at risk with the goal of generating a return

Work — EB-5 permanent residents are allowed to work for any company in the U.S. In some states you can only obtain professional licenses (engineering, real estate agents, etc.) if you have a U.S. green card or are a U.S. citizen.

Business — EB-5 permanent residents can start their own business anywhere in the U.S.

Travel — EB-5 green card holders can travel anywhere within the U.S. and leave and enter the country freely as permanent residents.

Legal rights — EB-5 permanent residents’ legal rights are protected under U.S. law, except the right to vote, which is available after you become a U.S. citizen.

Family members — EB-5 permanent residents can sponsor a spouse and unmarried children (under age 21) included in the same green card petition.

Education — EB-5 permanent residents generally enjoy in-state or resident tuition at all public universities and colleges. Typically, this rate is two to four times less expensive than the rate foreign students have to pay.

Home — EB-5 permanent residents will find it easier to be approved for a home mortgage and/or to obtain lower interest rates.

Retirement — EB-5 permanent residents enjoy the same Social Security benefits as a U.S. citizen after they have worked in the U.S. for ten years.

Citizenship — EB-5 permanent residents are eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship and have a U.S. passport. You can also keep your permanent green card forever if you choose not to become a U.S. citizen as long as you maintain U.S. residency.

The total cost of the EB-5 process includes the minimum investment amount of $800,000 for projects located in designated Targeted Employment Areas (TEAs), i.e., rural areas or infrastructure projects, or $1,050,000 if located elsewhere.

In addition to the capital investment and any syndication fees, applicants should budget for legal fees, administration fees, and a USCIS filing fee–the combined total of which can sometimes exceed $100K.

The EB-5 visa program provides a path for eligible immigrant investors to become lawful permanent residents– informally known as “green card” holders. In that sense, the EB-5 visa is a “green card.”

The EB-5 visa acts as a permanent green card allowing the recipient to stay in the U.S. indefinitely. However, once you obtain your EB-5 visa, it is generally advisable that you do not leave the U.S. for any continuous period longer than six months. You may also lose your permanent residency status if you are found guilty of a crime or do not file U.S. tax returns. 

The EB-5 investment program allocates 10,000 visas per year for investors and their family members. There is also a quota or cap per country that can affect the timing of the issuance of your EB-5 visa.

Processing times vary, but investors should be prepared to wait twelve months or more for approval of the I-526E petition. It can then take 4-6 months to secure the visa from the consulate. Additional wait periods will apply if you are coming from a country that has exceeded its annual quota, requiring that you wait for a visa to become available. Currently this only applies to a few countries in the world… most countries have an EB-5 visa available and waiting for you right now.  

Overall, the approval process is very high, nearly 100%, when investors choose an experienced EB-5 program like American Life, and utilize a skilled immigration attorney. 

The total cost of the EB-5 process includes the minimum investment amount of $800,000 for projects located in designated Targeted Employment Areas (TEAs), which encompass rural and high-unemployment areas, or $1,050,000 if located elsewhere.

In addition to the investment, applicants should budget for legal fees, administration fees, and the USCIS filing fees– the combined total of which can sometimes exceed $100K.

The USCIS charges a fee to file Form I-526E, also called the Immigrant Petition for Alien Entrepreneur Form. The current filing fee required for the form is $11,160.

You can get a loan from a bank, a lending institution, from friends or family, or even from a source in the United States, so long as the funds are from lawful means.

Yes, an EB-5 visa can be delayed or rejected at any stage in the process for various reasons. No immigration attorney or regional center can 100% guarantee success.

The most common problems encountered for EB-5 visa applications have been related to insufficient documentation of the source of funds by the investor. Due to privacy, and sometimes cultural reasons, many EB-5 investors try to disclose the least possible information only to have the file returned with a request for further information. It is better to provide too much information rather than too little. In this era of terror alerts and suspicions about money laundering, USCIS case examiners require well-documented support for the source of your invested funds.

We use the same investment model for each case and each project. USCIS has reviewed our investment model and has approved visa petitions based on our model. Furthermore USCIS changes its adjudication policies from time to time. Such changes often require further explanation of the project structure, which can delay visa approval, and occasionally result in visa denials. In the unlikely event of visa denial based on project structure, American Life, Inc. will defend its investors’ interests in Court at its expense.

The H-1B visa is a temporary, nonimmigrant visa, sponsored by an employer. Foreign nationals with an H-1B visa may need to leave the United States after six years. EB-5 visas provide permanent residency and are tied to the individual, not an employer.

The H-1B visa has a number of advantages over other nonimmigrant visas, including a high salary requirement, no language requirement, and no work experience requirement (which means recent graduates can still be eligible). It is also considered a “dual intent” visa, which means that you are allowed to pursue permanent residency (like through an EB-5 visa) while under H-1B nonimmigrant status. The disadvantages of an H-1B visa are that they are dependent on the sponsorship of an employer, and they have a time restriction of six years. There is also an annual limit to how many petitions are approved each year (USCIS receives 3x the amount that is alotted), so most applicants must be entered into a lottery unless they are considered cap-exempt.

Spouses can be brought to the U.S. under an H-4 visa. Fortunately, H-4 holders can work in the U.S. after obtaining Employment Authorization Documents.

Yes, a U.S. employer must sponsor your visa in order for it to be approved. The employer must also prove the need for the temporary position, demonstrate that there’s a lack of qualified workers to do the job in the U.S., pay the H-1B worker a fair wage, and in the event that they end the employment, they must pay for the employee to return home.

In general, H-1B costs and fees are paid for by the U.S. employer.

An EB-5 regional center is a private organization pre-designated by the U.S. government for participation in the Immigrant Investor program. A regional center is authorized to pool investments from multiple EB-5 investors, and oversee its use in compliance with the EB-5 program.

You can head to the USCIS website https://www.uscis.gov/ and check if the regional center you are considering is listed as an approved EB-5 immigrant investor regional center. You can also see if they are a registered member with IIUSA https://iiusa.org/.

American Life operates the longest established approved regional center with USCIS https://www.uscis.gov/. With over 45 commercial real estate projects under our belt, you can feel confident that you’re getting a trustworthy and knowledgeable partner on your EB-5 journey.

An EB-5 promoter will file an I-956F application for project approval with USCIS documenting the specifics of the actual project, including information on the regional center, job creation, and other details of the project. The EB-5 promoter should provide you a copy of the I-797 receipt for this filing.

An EB-5 project should be able to provide you with an economic study, authored by an independent professional economist with experience in EB-5, clearly documenting the U.S. jobs that will be created by the EB-5 project you are considering investing in.

Additional helpful items to request include evidence of previous I-526 and I-829 approvals from the regional center.

As an American Life equity-based investor, you participate in the profits of the project. Our investment offering documents include forecasted returns and profits from the operations of the project. The return on investment is generally much higher than investors’ experience in our competitors’ loan models. 

Since 1996, the I-526 approval rate for American Life has been almost 100%. Any denials or delays we have experienced are generally based on issues with investors proving the source of their invested funds.

A prospective investor can first register by filling out the contact form, and an accreditation form to receive offering materials (investment offering prospectus).

In terms of investing, once you sign the official English version of the subscription agreement (in the prospectus) and we countersign the same document, you are admitted as a limited partner. The next step for the foreign investor is to follow our wiring instructions and send the investment funds. Typically within 1 to 2 days of your wire transfer, our office will send you a confirmation of receipt of the funds. If you are an EB-5 investor, a copy of the remittance confirmation will also be provided to your immigration attorney, so he or she can submit your I-526 petition.

At any stage of your decision-making process, please feel free to contact us via phone, send us an email or set an appointment online to speak to one of our managers.

No. The law requires an EB-5 investment to be “at risk.” American Life works to minimize that risk with its equity-based model of investment.

As in any investment, there is a risk of total loss. By U.S. regulations, all funds must be put at risk. Risk factors differ among projects, but general risks include economic conditions, owning of real estate investments, law changes, and other risks related to a private investment offering. For a full list of risks related to a particular investment, please refer to the offering material.