EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program: Get US green card and American citizenship for permanent residence in the USA – Investing Abroad News
By Piyush Gupta
The American Dream is alive and kicking, which is why millions from across the world want to immigrate to the US. The country offers limitless economic opportunities, a very high standard of living, and access to the finest schools and universities in the world.
Temporary, non-immigrant Indian workers constitute the largest pool of skilled tech workers in the US. According to a National Foundation for American Policy analysis of USCIS data, this group of more than 1.2 million individuals, including dependents, is waiting in the first, second and third employment-based green card categories. For these Indians, the route to a Green Card and US citizenship is fraught with uncertainty.
United States H-1B Program
The H-1B is a visa in the United States that allows U.S. employers to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. A specialty occupation requires the application of specialized knowledge and a bachelor’s degree or the equivalent of work experience. The demand for H-1B visas consistently exceeds supply, prompting the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to employ a lottery system to select recipients. Notably, Indian tech professionals have dominated the H-1B cap-subject visas in recent years.
In 2024, 780,884 individuals registered for an H-1B and just 188,400 were selected. These low odds have remained relatively unchanged over the past several years and are unlikely to change.
But there is an alternative way of getting a green card and US citizenship: the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program.
What is United States EB-5 Visa Program?
For the uninitiated, EB-5 is a job-creation program that enables immigrant investors to obtain US permanent residency. First enacted in 1990, EB-5 began as a program in which participants were awarded green cards in exchange for, for the most part, building small businesses that created at least ten jobs
For the past 32 years, entities called “regional centers” have made it generally more straightforward for immigrant investors to obtain lawful permanent residence in the U.S. Among other functions, regional centers pool capital from many immigrant investors, with the unique ability to leverage indirect job creation to meet the program’s ten-job requirement (per investor).
To illustrate why this is a powerful change, let’s use the example of a building project. EB-5 regional centers can build the structure with pooled capital while counting all jobs created indirectly through economic modeling (e.g., through calculating the economic activity of contractors, construction workers, electricians, plumbers, etc.). This eliminates the burden of standalone investors needing to build a business and then find and hire workers directly.
Currently, the minimum investment for the EB-5 Visa program is $1.05 million. However, there is an exception to that rule. If the EB-5 project is based in a rural area or one that is experiencing high unemployment, that investment is lowered to $800,000.
It is the exception that eclipses the rule: throughout most of EB-5’s history, most immigrant investors have leveraged the lower investment amounts.
Benefits of the US EB-5 Visa
- Investors and their immediate family members (spouse and unmarried children under the age of 21) can obtain permanent residence through a one-time investment.
- No language requirement.
- No business background requirement.
- Green card holders have the flexibility to travel
in and out of the United States. - The investor’s children can attend universities in the United States at the same tuition rate as U.S. residents.
The EB-5 as an Alternative to the H-1B and Employer sponsorship
The EB-5 program gives applicants and their families significantly more control over their immigration path and offers freedom from employer sponsorship, opening significant opportunities to build a successful life in the U.S.
Benefits of EB-5 relative to the H-1B lottery
- EB-5 is not random.
- EB-5 has no education requirements.
- EB-5 allows for self-sponsorship.
- EB-5 is not tied to specific employment criteria,
The decision to begin the immigration journey to the United States is incredibly personal. As you navigate this journey, it’s important to consider all your options carefully and make sure you are choosing the best path for you and your family.
(Author is Vice President – India
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