US EB-5 program: How sending children to study in America helps families get Green Card and citizenship – Investing Abroad News
By Varvara Latyntseva
More than 1 million international students were studying in the US in 2022-23. It is not surprising that the US has many excellent universities in the World Wide Ranking.
US education opens a new world of opportunities for young people. Even though every parent is happy to see their child getting into a US university, it’s not so easy to watch your child cross the ocean to start this new chapter in their lives. Time differences and distance make it hard for families.
What if there were an option for parents to join their children and stay closer to them while they are in the US?
Its not easy, the F1 visa allows bringing only spouses and kids under a dependent F2 visa, but parents also have the option to move to the US through the EB-5 program.
The EB-5 program – the US investment immigration program that’s been working since 1990, not only allows parents to be with a child, its also provides whole families with a Green Card and a clear pathway to citizenship.
Costs of the EB-5 program
The investment amount starts from $800,000, plus non-refundable additional expenses of $100,000 – 200,000. The investment must create at least 10 new jobs
When should you start?
One application covers the main investor and their spouse and children under 21. Even though you can submit an application and the age will be frozen during your application review time, it’s recommended to start at least a few years in advance to avoid the aging out of children during the visa application process. which in the event of Indians can take a few years easily.
Therefore if you want your child – student and the rest of the family to be included in one application, ideally you should start when your older child whom you want to include in the application is aged 17 – 18.
Of course, you can start earlier as well, in this case you may actually get lower tuition fees and get more chances to receive a scholarship.
But the general recommendation is that you should apply at least a year before your child becomes 21, if your child is older you should carefully review the options with your immigration attorney at the time you plan to submit your application and be ready that if there is any backlog, delays or other issues, your child may fall out of the application and you will need to make a separate investment to cover him or her separately.
Green Card obligations
It’s important to understand that in the case that you apply for an EB-5 for the whole family, once you have received your Green Cards you need to be living in the US, and another obligation is that you should pay taxes on your worldwide income. This can be quite a burden if you have a business running in your home country which requires your attention and creates an extra cost in US tax
For some families, the solution can be to proceed with a Green Card for a non-working spouse, usually a mom, so they live on two countries at the beginning and once the family is ready to relocate to the US completely, the working spouse may join their partner who is already living in the US.
How long does it take to get a Green Card with the EB-5 program?
The EB-5 program consists of two main steps – the first one is getting your Conditional Green Card, and the second is the application for a Permanent Green Card.
From the moment of your application, till the moment you get your Conditional Green Card it can take anywhere between 1 – 4 years, depending on the project you choose and how lucky you are. From the start till the moment you get your Permanent Green card it can take 5 – 8 years.
(Author is Managing Director, Second Wind EB-5)
