It's hardly surprising that our U.S. immigration attorneys are getting more calls for Investment Visas.
Interest in US business and investment-oriented immigration continues to rise, particularly in the U.S. Immigrant Investor visa category or “EB-5”. There are two explanations for this. First, the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA) has boosted investor trust in the program. The second reason is that geopolitical tensions, the global economy, and problems in some governments have produced a climate in which more individuals are interested in exploring their choices for permanent residency in other countries.
Although this article focuses on recent events reviving interest in EB-5 investment-based visas, most of the factors driving this heightened interest hold for other U.S. investment-based visa categories, including the L-1 intracompany transferee visa and the E-2 Treaty Investor visa.
Revitalized Interest
The global mobility industry is always impacted by geopolitical and national stability. The demand for Western permanent residency permits often decreases during periods of growth. When things are rough, interest in them tends to rise. As immigration attorneys, we see a varying level of interest in the status of the world and specific countries.
Unsurprisingly, the present status of the world is causing a great deal of uncertainty for several people worldwide. Massive demonstrations around Brazil's recent election, Covid-19 policies in China, and the persecution of women in Iran, in addition to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as well as many lesser localized disagreements and concerns, have prompted many to contemplate relocating. With global inflation reaching multi-decade highs and supply chain problems still plaguing several countries due to the Covid virus, many people wonder whether staying put in their own country is the best plan for weathering a potential economic downturn at home. These notable instances are hardly the only ones leading many to fear that the world is heading toward an uncertain future.
Updates to the EB-5 Guidelines
Foreign residents of countries formerly subject to visa quota backlogs can engage in specific kinds of projects with visa carve-outs and new quotas. It is one of the many positive modifications to the EB-5 laws in the RIA. Foreign citizens from India and China, the two biggest EB-5 markets in the world, have historically had to wait between 3 and 8 years for the adjudication of their EB-5 applications due to quota restrictions. Now, the RIA has established visa quotas for foreign nationals who engage in infrastructure projects, rural projects, and projects in areas with substantial unemployment without requiring them to wait in line.
In addition, the RIA improved investor protection procedures dramatically. Regional Centers, statutorily established EB-5 investment project offerors, have been assigned the lion's share of the obligation for showing compliance with the RIA. The increased compliance and reporting requirements in the RIA were implemented to counteract the EB-5 program's well-known and tainted history of investor fraud. During the last several years, we have evaluated a wider number of cases presented to us by EB-5 investors seeking to challenge project offerors than we have new EB5 immigrant investor visa applications.
The RIA (EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act) came at the perfect moment for people interested in EB-5 investments, restoring faith when demand for visas tied to capital investments is rising.
Note: This website's content is meant to be general; it does not constitute legal or financial advice. Only a licensed expert with a total understanding of all the information and circumstances of your specific situation can provide legal or financial advice. Before enrolling in the EB-5 program, you should contact a visa attorney with legal, immigration, and financial knowledge.