EB-5 Immigration Investing

Our Strategic Partnerships

Through our strategic partnerships with China Migration Agents, EB-5 Regional Centers and real estate developers, we provide an ecosystem for collaborative and effective capital formation in an SRO-compliant fashion.

Successfully coordinating capital transactions through means of EB-5 requires in-depth understanding of the process, laws and stakeholders across a multi-national footprint. Our extended network of attorneys and investment bankers–including multilingual representations–ensures our team can guide issuers and investors through the various stages of the EB-5 capital process.

With extensive transaction-based experience, our team will provide the documentation and transaction preparation for complete EB-5 execution. By providing Placement Agent services for EB-5 investment opportunities, we ensure Reg D offerings are completed in an SEC compliant fashion. EB-5 financing requires end-to-end transaction organization and execution solutions including transaction advisory, General Partner Services, deal tracking and due diligence for Migrant Agents and the deals directly. By combining the complete transaction protocols with expert marketing across a multilingual audience, our clients are better prepared for a successful capital raising outcome.

With complete SEC compliance services, we provide assistance to U.S. offices and representatives for China Migration Agents. Project tracking includes General Partner (GP) for EB-5 fund administration. By combining a broad network of institutional investors and various EB-5 stakeholders, we readily provide seamless debt and equity financing opportunities for both real estate and other various U.S. business opportunities.

EB-5 Program Explained

The EB-5 Immigrant Investor program was piloted in 1992 by Congressional mandate. The program is aimed at concurrently offering economic stimulation and job growth while providing a path toward permanent residency for eligible aliens. Through the program, foreign national citizens are able to more readily and quickly obtain permanent U.S. residence status. It also assists in providing requisite investor capital for real estate and business development projects in the United States where funding may be difficult or non-existent.

Foreign citizens, acting as investors, must meet stringent United States Citizenship and Immigration (USCIS) requirements for utilizing the EB-5 visa program as a means to obtain permanent residency in the United States. The program requires specific amounts for capital investment and job creation in order to qualify under the program. If all requisite requirements are met, the investor, his/her spouse and all children under age 21 may obtain permanent residency green cards.

In most cases, EB-5 permanent resident visa applicants make either $500,000 or $1 million investment amounts into a specific United States-based business or project. The capital investment commitment can be dispersed in the form of cash (or cash equivalent), equipment, tangible property, inventory or secured debt. The value of the investment is benchmarked against the current fair market value (FMV) of the U.S. dollar.

If the EB-5 investment is made in a targeted employment area (TEA), then the minimum amount of invested capital may be reduced to $500,000 from the typical $1 million. A TEA is typically defined as a rural area or area of high unemployment. When gauging the relative need of a TEA, the definition of high unemployment means the geographic locale maintains an unemployment rate of 150% of the national average or outside the boundary of any area with an applicable population of 20,000 or more. Additionally, rural areas also qualify. Rural areas are typically geographic regions that are outside of the metropolitan statistical areas as defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

In addition, the EB-5 investor must demonstrate the capital set aside for investment was derived from a legal source or acquired directly/indirectly in a lawful way. Like other investments, the funds must qualify under Anti-Money Laundering (AML) laws.

Job Creation Requirements

Job creation is one of the focal aims of the EB-5 immigration program. The USCIS requires such investments create at least 10 full-time jobs for United States workers. The directly-associated jobs must be created within a two year window once the investors EB-5 contribution has been invested for obtaining permanent residency. In many cases, the USCIS requires the tracking of direct job creation within the enterprise receiving the EB-5 investment. In the case of an investment in a regional center, however, 10 indirect or induced full-time jobs may be sufficient. Indirect jobs are defined as those employment opportunities created by companies that may provide goods or services to the specific EB-5 project. Induced jobs are those created within the broader community as a result of the immigrant investment.

Qualified Entity Types

Numerous entity types are available for investment by a potential EB-5 visa investor. An investor may qualify by investing in a new commercial business enterprise or in a regional center. A new enterprise may be a number of commercial for-profit entities including limited/general partnerships, corporations, sole proprietorships, business trusts, limited liability companies or a host of private or public entities. To maintain the definition of a new commercial enterprise the entity must have been established after 1990.

Older commercial businesses may qualify if the investor can show evidence for a 40% increase in the total number of employees or entity net worth as a result of the investment. Older companies may also qualify if the business is restructured so that a new enterprise is the result. In addition to investing directly into projects EB-5 investors may also invest of one of a handful of EB-5 Regional Centers–locations where EB-5 projects are administered. Regional Centers offer an advantage in that investing in them precludes the investor from setting up the EB-5 project separately.

Benefits of Using an Investment Bank

When sourcing capital through the EB-5 program, there are a number of compliance and regulator factors to consider in the decision to source capital. By utilizing an investment bank as the Placement Agent, issuers and investors alike are better equipped to structure the deal so as to protect themselves. We help provide initial Offering evaluation and Regional Center and Developer management prior to full Placement Agent agreement acceptance.

In doing so, we provide complete viability of the business, financial suitability, job creation and TEA designation of the offering. We assist in detailed review of all documentation, including ownership, ownership structure, capital stack (debt & equity), background checks, licensing & permitting due diligence, staffing/construction timetables, credit terms, historical/proforma financials (P&L and balance sheet), vendor relations and management capability. Our team also works to provide a complete review of all Private Placement Memorandum information, including highlighted risk assessment for enhanced disclosure of the offering.

Subsequent to offering preparation, we assist on a complete marketing plan. In doing so, we have extensive, broad network access to the requisite resources in both the United States and abroad to source the appropriate capital. We continue to evaluate the viability of the offering and the investment as the marketing process progresses, including assessment of potentially relevant investors. In short, we ensure the entire offering, escrow and closing process is fully compliant with applicable securities laws.

Forms

• I-526, Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur
• I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status
• I-829, Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions
• I-924, Application For Regional Center Under the Immigrant Investor Pilot Program
• I-924A, Supplement to Form I-924
• Questions and Answers: Form I-924A