What are the qualifications for TEA designation?

A rural area is defined as an area outside a metropolitan statistical area and outside a city with a population of 20,000 or more. The EB-5 investment threshold is reduced to $500,000 when that investment is located in a rural area or TEA. This is irrespective of whether the investment is made through a regional center or directly. A TEA is in an area where unemployment is 150% of the national average.

No, you do not have to be associated with an RC to obtain advantage of a TEA. Rural area is an area outside a MSA and city or town having a population in excess of 20,000. You would need to get advice from a competent immigration attorney.

The reduced investment amount of $500,000 applies when your investment is in a project that is a TEA, this is the case in either direct EB-5 investment or regional center investment. A TEA can be either an area that has high unemployment defined as 150% of the national average or higher OR a rural area defined as an area that has a population of 20,000 or less and is not within an MSA.

In order to find out if your project is in a TEA you will have to speak with your state officials to determine the unemployment in the area. If you decide not to affiliate with a Regional Center, your project will have to create 10 direct full time jobs per investor in order to qualify for the EB-5 program. If you affiliate yourself with a Regional Center, you will be able to use the indirect job creation.

High unemployment areas and rural areas qualify for TEA designation. You can check U.S. census data to determine whether an area qualifies for rural area. If an area qualifies for TEA, then amount of investment is .5 million. We are in Ohio and can help you to determine whether your area qualifies as TEA.

A rural area means any area not within either a metropolitan statistical area (as designated by the Office of Management and Budget) or the outer boundary of any city or town having a population of 20,000 or more as based on the most recent decennial census of the United States. That is, you have to demonstrate that your job creating entity is not located within any city or town having a population of 20,000 or more. The best resource to determine a city or town population is the American Fact Finder section of the census Bureau''s website. This population finder search engine permits you to put a specific street address and then receive a detailed population report based upon the Census 2000 data. This report may be submitted as part of your investor''s Form I-526 petition to demonstrate that a new commercial enterprise is not located within any city or town having a population of 20,000 or more as based on the most recent decennial census of the untied states. If your project is located in the rural area, the investors can qualify for the reduced amount of $500,000 in their investments. You don''t need to affiliate with a regional center to qualify for that. However, your project sounds like a standard EB-5 project and your investors have to prove that the jobs created from their investments through your residential housing are direct jobs and not indirect jobs in order to qualify for immigration benefits under the EB-5 investor program.

For an area to qualify as a TEA the following criteria needs to be met: at the time of investment, the rural area or an area must be experiencing unemployment of at least 150 percent of the national average rate. A rural area is any area outside a metropolitan statistical area (as designated by the Office of Management and Budget) or outside the boundary of any city or town having a population of 20,000 or more according to the decennial census.

You do not have to be affiliated with a regional center to use the TEA (reduced investment amount). The TEA is an area which has an unemployment rate 50% higher than the national unemployment rate. A rural area is an area outside of any MSA and outside any city or town having a population of 20,000 or more. You should consult with an experienced EB-5 immigration attorney to advise you with respect to these requirements.

The TEA is a targeted employment area where the unemployment rate is at 150% or more of the national unemployment average (currently at 7.8% so you would have to find somewhere where unemployment is close to 12%). Many rural areas qualify but not all. A regional center is not required for that, just place of employment.

Thank you for your inquiry concerning the EB-5 program. To qualify for TEA designation an investor need not be affiliated with a regional center, only the investment must be located in an area of high unemployment (at least 150% of the national average) or in a rural area defined as: an area outside a metropolitan statistical area and outside of city with a population of 20,000 or more.

Only the State Labor Department may designate a geographic area as a TEA. You can request information regarding whether the location in which your project is located is considered a TEA through the State Labor Department.

A TEA can qualify your investors for a reduced amount of $500,000. Check with your local jurisdictions to find out if your area is a TEA. Should be easy to find out, as many localities keep records on this.

A TEA is either a rural area, defined as an area outside an MSA or a city with fewer than 20,000 people, or an area where unemployment is 150 percent of the national average.

TEA designation letter issued by a city or state government is given to businesses that are located in a high unemployment area that have 150% higher than national unemployment rate.

Direct or Regional Center projects have no impact on the investment amount. Whether the project is located in a TEA does. A suburb normally will not qualify for a TEA based on reduced population. But, it may qualify based on it having 150% higher unemployment than the national average.