Editor’s Note: The Immigrant Investor Program, also known as “EB-5,” was created in 1990 by Congress to stimulate the U.S. economy through the creation of jobs and capital investment by foreign investors. Administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), it allows foreigners to “buy” a Green Card by investing a certain amount of capital in the U.S. market. It recently stirred up some controversy, especially during April of 2015, when the United States ran out of these visas for the second year in a row. There were many parts of the program that were set to expire in September 2015. The program was reintroduced in Congress and revisited in December 2015.
EB-5 U.S. Immigrant Investor Visa
Presented by Vivek Tandon, founder and CEO of EB5 BRICS LLC
After a long debate in December 2015, the U.S. Congress extended the EB-5 U.S. Investor Visa Program until Sept. 30, 2016. Nonetheless, changes to the program are likely to be debated again over the next nine months.
Key features of the program are presented in Vivek Tandon’s newly released On Demand Seminar, “EB-5 U.S. Immigrant Investor Visa.” Tandon is an attorney and investment banker who specializes in assisting prospective EB-5 U.S. investor visa applicants from India and other countries, such as Brazil and Mexico. In this 40-minute seminar, produced by GlobalBusinessProfessor.com and GlobalAutoIndustry.com, Tandon describes the Immigrant Investor Program, also known as “EB-5.” The EB-5 visa category was created by the United States Congress in 1990 to stimulate the U.S. economy, especially in communities that are economically disadvantaged. The legislation makes 10,000 Green Cards of permanent residency available each year for qualified immigrant investors.
Tandon outlines the requirements of the EB-5 Visa, which include investment in a new business, investment of at least $1 million (or $500,000 in economically disadvantaged areas) into the business and creation of employment for at least 10 full-time U.S. workers. He clarifies the distinction between a Regional Center EB-5 Investment and a Direct EB-5 Investment.
He also explains that a Regional Center Investment is generally a loan-based model with no ownership of the project or everyday control and management. He states that it is almost always a somewhat large-scale infrastructure project related to hospitality, health-care, residential and/or commercial development or re-development.
Tandon also explains that an alternative is the Direct EB-5 Investment, which is in a likely new business, which could be a restaurant, technology company or a franchised business, with possible ownership, management and control.
From there, Tandon reviews the factors to consider when making the decision to apply for the EB-5 program, and what to expect in terms of timelines, risks and benefits.
Click here to watch “EB-5 U.S. Immigrant Investor Visa.”
Tandon is the founder and CEO of EB5 BRICS, which offers a gateway to U.S. permanent residency through the Immigrant Investor Visa Program. EB5 BRICS collaborates with real estate and business management professionals and EB-5 immigration and corporate law practitioners to guide clients through the business and immigration process.
Tandon holds Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) securities licenses and is associated with a registered broker-dealer. Prior to starting EB5 BRICS, Tandon worked as an in-house attorney overseeing contractual matters and acted as the business development head of a legal technology and services outsourcing company that was based in India. He received his law degree from Suffolk University School of Law and his bachelor’s in finance and business administration from California State University, Long Beach. He is active in the South Asian Bar Association of Southern California and The Indus Entrepreneurs.
