Silicon Valley has emerged as a hotspot for EB-5 applications by U.S. visa holders transitioning from H-1B and F-1 visas. Comprised of the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro area, the tech hub’s reputation for innovation and opportunities has attracted a significant concentration of visa holders to this urban area.
“Silicon Valley has one of the nation’s most significant concentrations of employment-based visa holders, employing tens of thousands of skilled professionals at leading technology companies like Google, Apple, Nvidia, and Meta,” said Ishaan Khanna, president of the American Immigrant Investor Alliance.
“Often, these professionals are stuck navigating an immigration system not designed to serve them efficiently. Indian- and Chinese-born professionals residing in communities like Sunnyvale, Cupertino, and Palo Alto face employment-based green card backlogs in the EB-2 and EB-3 categories that stretch for decades. This leaves highly skilled, tax-paying contributors to the American economy in prolonged immigration limbo through no fault of their own,” he adds.
About 17% of all approved H-1B petitions in Fiscal Year 2025 were filed by Silicon Valley-based companies, according to Joint Venture Silicon Valley and its Institute for Regional Studies. The region remains one of the nation’s primary hubs for the program, they said.
What makes Silicon Valley a hotspot for EB-5 applications?
This center for high-tech innovation and development in the southern San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California (NorCal) is the most concentrated H-1B hub in the nation, with about 142 new H-1B hires per 10,000 workers, a metric that measures “H-1B intensity,” according to an analysis of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) data.
This rate is nearly six times the national average for major U.S. metropolitan areas. Silicon Valley is followed by the San Francisco Metro and the Washington, D.C., Metro areas.
EB-5 attorney Mitch Wexler of Fragomen said the NoCal area is also popular for its concentration of educational institutions.
“NorCal is also home to several top universities that attract top students from around the world,” Wexler says. “Therefore, many F-1 students are looking to avoid the current H-1B challenges and are filing for EB-5 while in school to get an EAD [Employment Authorization Document] in a few months (while priority dates are current).”
Concentration of tech companies and wealth in Silicon Valley
The area is also a hub for many prominent multinational tech companies that attract talent worldwide, enabling higher earning potential for foreign professionals holding a temporary U.S. work visa.
“This leads many on L-1 and O-1 to pursue permanent residency via EB-5, Wexler said. “By doing so, they get to avoid labor market tests that may be impacted by layoffs, as well as subjective [National Interest Waiver] EB1 determinations.”
U.S. immigration attorney Belma Demirovic Chinchoy of Immigration General Counsel says the high concentration of EB-5 in Silicon Valley also responds to growing awareness of this visa being a more reliable path to permanent residence and greater immigration independence.
“The ability to self-sponsor, avoid dependence on employer-based immigration status, and pursue a more predictable path to permanent residence,” she says. “Many of these individuals have been immersed in an environment that values entrepreneurship and long-term strategic planning.”
Fredrick Voigtman of IGV Law notes that many of these EB-5 investors are Indian-born H-1B professionals with older EB-2/EB-3 dates who view EB-5 as a pathway to adjust status.
“These individuals have significant work history and income/savings accumulated from years of employment in the U.S. […] They seek to mitigate the uncertainty of their H-1B employment situations and transition to a more independent and realistic pathway towards U.S. permanent residence,” he says.
Jimena Cabrera of Cabrera Law highlights that the high cost of living in Silicon Valley makes EB-5 capital more attainable. “Due to the high cost of living, salaries tend to be significantly higher than in other parts of the U.S. and often include stock-based compensation. This makes it more feasible for applicants to accumulate the required [EB-5] investment capital – something far less attainable in many other regions.”
Marcela Gallic of Fragomen concludes that this combination of immigration dynamics, local economy, and domestic and international talent flow boosts visibility and participation in the EB-5 program.
“Employment-based green card backlogs affecting certain nationalities further influence long-term immigration planning, making EB-5 an option that some individuals consider as part of a broader strategy,” Cividanes says.
Benefits of concurrently filing for an EB-5 visa
The EB-5 Program offers a meaningful and lawful alternative that benefits both the investor and the broader American economy without using any taxpayer funding, Khanna says.
“For F-1 and H-1B holders already living and working in the U.S., the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 introduced a particularly significant provision: the ability to file the I-526E immigrant petition concurrently with the I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence, along with applications for Employment Authorization and Advance Parole. For Bay Area tech professionals who have spent years, maybe even decades, building lives in this country while their immigration status remained contingent on an employer, a lottery, or a backlog entirely outside their control, this provision is transformative. It replaces uncertainty with a clear path, allowing investors to remain in status, continue working, and pursue permanent residence simultaneously – without waiting, leaving, or starting over.”
KLDP’s Phuong Le notes that EB-5 could mean the promise of freedom for many H-1B visa holders for the first time.
“A chance to control their own destiny, without being tethered to their employer,” he said. “The pivot is also real because you have captive investors with cash, who genuinely fear for their future, given the rapid advancement in AI,” Le says.
Could recent immigration updates affect Silicon Valley’s status as an EB-5 hub?
Recent changes in immigration may affect H-1B distribution, particularly in Silicon Valley, due to a new selection process that favors higher-skilled, higher-paid applicants over random selection. Meanwhile, a proposed rule to end the “Duration of Status” (D/S) for F-1 student visas and replace it with a fixed, date-certain admission period could also enhance the area’s status as an EB-5 hotspot.
“It’s possible that these changes to the H-1B program could shift Silicon Valley’s status as an H-1B and EB-5 hub,” EB-5 lawyer Hallie Shechter of KLDP cautions.
Understanding how these changes may affect visa distribution is crucial for those seeking a future in Silicon Valley through the EB-5 program.
“All the challenges surrounding the current H-1B program are driving more and more H-1B non-immigrants to launch an EB-5 case asap. As long as they will be eligible to file an adjustment of status concurrently, they will get a work permit and travel document, rendering them no longer constrained by these H-1B challenges,” Wexler concludes.
Want to learn more about your EB-5 visa options? Attend our EB-5 and H-1B Fair in Silicon Valley at the Juniper Hotel, Cupertino, on May 16. If you are a visa holder or a potential investor, contact us at info@eb5investors.com for a complimentary ticket.
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