Indians asked to apply for US EB-5 visas soon

USIF (US Immigration Fund), world’s largest US EB-5 fundraiser, is urging Indians to apply for their EB-5 visas soon as the program may be changed in the later part of 2018 and other visa categories could be tightened.

Andrew Graves, the head of USIF’s India Operations, was quoted by Business Standard as saying that to be a qualified investor, people need to have a net worth of $1 million and investment should be made primarily from a legal source of funds. He said that it is expected that major legislative changes would be made to the EB-5 Program by 23 March 2018 and that is why it is the time to invest at a lower amount.

The EB-5 Program, created in 1990, allowed high net worth overseas investors and their families to secure US visas by investing at least $500,000 in an American business that will benefit its economy by creating at least 10 permanent jobs for US citizens.

The National Law review (US) stated that the government is proposing to raise the minimum amount to be invested to $925,000 for projects in the newly defined targeted employment areas and in all the other projects by $25,000 more to more than $1 million.

The EB-5 visa makes it possible for students and business people to obtain a permanent US Green Card much faster than other visa categories such as H1-B, EB-2, EB 1A/B/C and EB-3. Moreover, with the EB-5 visa, investors and their immediate family members will be able to acquire conditional residency in the US within 16-18 months. It also allows them access to lower tuition rates in educational institutions and improves their acceptance rates in the prominent universities of the US.

The EB-5 Program gained traction only during the global recession of 2008-09 where many realty developers began looking out for other sources of cheaper capital. According to USCIS data, the number of Indian EB-5 visa applicants has steadily increased in the last few years. In 2017, 174 petitions were filed, an increase of 57 percent from 2015.

In the EB-5 process, a crucial role is played by USIF by pooling EB-5 capital from high net worth individuals and invests the gathered money in EB-5 projects in real estate with leading developers from places such as New York City, California, Florida and New Jersey.

The exclusive rights for procuring and investing capital for EB-5 for many massive residential and commercial real estate projects are exclusively held by USIF. The number of USIF investors from India increased fourfold to 2017 from 2016 and the

investor numbers in 2018 is anticipated to rise to more than 200 if the given investment amount does not change, USIF said.

If you are looking to migrate to the US, talk to Y-Axis, the world’s no.1 immigration and visa consultancy, to apply for an EB-5 visa.