EB-5 Presents Interesting Opportunities for Indian Citizens

For Indian citizens, immigrating to the United States can be a long, difficult process. Long backlogs in the EB-2 and EB-3 visa categories have lead to wait times that routinely reach 10 years or more. Lottery based visas, such as the H-1B visa, are difficult to win and are unpredictable.

These hurdles are not likely to abate in the near term. As expected, President Trump has made meaningful moves to curb immigration, and we expect that the Trump administration will continue to tighten immigration regulations through 2018.

However, the EB-5 visa program may offer a powerful solution for Indian citizens who hope to remove some of the hurdles faced by other visas. EB-5 is an investor visa that currently offers permanent residency to people who invest $900,000 or more in a designated enterprise that creates 10 or more full-time jobs for Americans and green card holders. Spouses and unmarried children under 21 years old also become eligible to receive green cards through an individuals’ EB-5.

One major benefit of the EB-5 visa for Indian citizens is that there is currently no backlog on the Indian quota for EB-5 visas. This means that Indian citizens can expect to receive a green card in about 3 years through the EB-5 program. This may not remain the case, however. The pace of new EB-5 applications from Indian citizens is increasing, and there is a good chance that we will see a backlog form by the end of 2019. This backlog would mean that investors must maintain their EB-5 investments for longer, and may see their children age out.

The EB-5 program is currently in a state of flux, with changes being implemented by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, and a possible legislative change being contemplated by Congress. One of the most important expected changes would be a significant increase in required investment amounts. Current proposals would look to raise the minimum investment amount to somewhere between $925,000 and $1,350,000 depending on which proposal is approved. New changes may be enacted as soon as February of this year.

Furthermore, the EB-5 visa allows recipients to gain permanent residency without employer sponsorship. Especially now, as H-1B visas are becoming more difficult to obtain because of continued program restrictions, the freedom provided by an EB-5 visa is attractive.

One final benefit of the EB-5 program versus other potential visas is that permanent residency for children may allow parents to pay in-state tuition for college. In-state tuition is often meaningfully less expensive than full tuition, so this can create a significant savings for some investors.

With all of the changes currently underway in US immigration, we think it is a good time to explore the EB-5 visa as a potential immigration option. For advice, please reach out to Mark Ivener.