What You Should Know about Getting Your EB5 Green Card

Your Spouse and Children Can Come With You

If you are approved through the EB5 green card program, you may bring your spouse, children, and step-children with you. You must have been married to your spouse at the time you applied to the program, and the children or step-children you bring with you must be unmarried and under age 21. Many immigrants choose the EB5 program because they want their children and step-children to have greater educational options than they would in their country of origin.

You May Invest a Minimum of $500,000

When you fill out an EB-5 Regional Center application you agree to invest $500,000 in a designated Regional Center. Regional Centers are located throughout the United States, and they cover just about every type of business. You may choose to play an active role in the Regional Center you choose, or you may choose to be a passive investor in the enterprise.

You May Invest in an Already Established Business

When you apply using the EB-5 Regional Center application, you're investing in a business that has already been established. Therefore you won't have to worry about start-up costs or about the many other procedures involved with starting a business. You may choose a Regional Center business because you are interested in the type of business it is, or because it is located in a place where you would like to live.

You May Start Your Own Business

If you want to start your own business under the EB5 program, you may do so as long as you invest at least $1 million in your start-up venture. Like with the Regional Center option, you will be required to create at least 10 full-time jobs in the two years in which you have your conditional green card.

You May Obtain Your Unconditional Green Card after Two Years

After you have been in the U.S. as an EB5 investor for two years, you may petition to have the conditions removed from your green card and obtain an unconditional green card. In general, five years after you obtain your conditional green card you may apply for U.S. citizenship.