The EB-5 visa, employment-based fifth preference category or EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa Program, created in 1990 by the Immigration Act of 1990, provides a method for eligible Immigrant Investors to become lawful permanent residents by investing at least $1,050,000 to finance a business in the United States that will employ at least 10 American workers.”
Most immigrant investors who use the EB-5 program invest in a targeted employment area (TEA) — a rural area or area with high unemployment — which lowers the investment threshold to $800,000. The EB-5 program is intended to encourage both “foreign investments and economic growth”.
Applicants have the choice of investing individually or they can choose to work through a “larger investor pool via regional centers (RC)” which is federally approved third-party intermediaries that connect foreign investors with developers in need of funding. If an EB-5 investment is made in a regional center, the jobs may be created indirectly through economic activity, as opposed to a direct investment, where the investment vehicle must directly employ the 10 U.S. workers