PHAM & CLOVES, PLLC

Over the years, I have heard all types of stereotypes, racial slurs, and misinterpretations of U.S. immigration law and policies.  I should know because I was once an immigrant and have heard these hatred remarks.  Technically, I was a refugee whose family escaped from communist Vietnam in the early 80’s.  Recently, I was informed about a blog by a conservative syndicated columnist, whose name I care not mentioning, who expounded about Employment-based 5^th preference for investment immigrants. 

The myth mentioned above was that to get a green card or to obtain U.S. Citizenship, all that an EB-5 applicant has to do was to purchase a house.  Rest assured that this is false; or else, the entire country would be bought up by foreign nationals.  For those of you that do not know, real property in the U.S. is much less than it is in Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, Australia, Singapore, and even cheaper than urban areas of Vietnam and China.  That’s correct.  Just do some research and you will know whether my assertion is true.

The fact is, like all employment-based preferences, the applicants go through extraordinary measures to show that he or she is qualified.  With respect of EB-5, it is so expensive and costly, as well as difficult to obtain, that only a handful of people around the world is qualified, the majority of which wants nothing to do with the U.S.  So, what are the requirements for an EB-5 Investor Immigrant Visa (which, by the way, only gives you a conditional, temporary, green card)?

To be eligible for an EB-5, the foreign national must show that he or she (1) invested at least one million dollars ($1,000,000) in an urban area or at least five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) in a rural area; (2) the investment must NOT be only of real property, but has to be a business entity such as a company or corporation; (3) the business must employ at least 10 U.S. citizens and/or U.S. permanent residents, and therefore, creating jobs in the U.S.; (4) the person must demonstrate that he or she has the qualifications and experience to manage and control such business entity to ensure its success and profitability; (5) if granted, the immigrant visa only affords the person a conditional green card with is valid for 2 years.  After the initial 2 years period, the foreign national must file an application with the USCIS to remove such condition and demonstrate that he or she has successfully carried-out and maintain such investment as proposed in the visa application.

If anyone think that the requirements above are easy to satisfy, and that any multi-millionaire would qualify and want to permanently move to the U.S., please do let me know.  The fact is that EB-5 remains one of the toughest visas to obtain.  I wish that these “conservative columnists” do their homework before expounding false and misleading information to the public.  False and misleading information would only further taint the cause in which they are advocating.

If you have any question regarding EB-5 or any other immigration questions, please feel free to contact our Houston Employment-based Immigrant Visa Attorneys and our Houston Employment Based Visa Lawyers at Veritas Legal Group.  Our Houston Immigration Attorneys’ work focus on business and employment based immigration issues.  Our West Houston Immigration Attorneys and our Spring Employment-Based Lawyers may be reached at 832-647-9867 or through our online inquiry page.