I intend to open a new company in the USA, investing $1M and get an EB-5 visa. I am from Brazil. I have gotten contradictory information about the minimal investment amount to get EB-5. Some attorneys tell me I can open my own company with the lower tier $500K (or $900K - 2020 Value). Another attorney says that the lower tier ($500K-2019 or $900K-2020) is only suitable to EB-5 if I will invest in an existing venture like a hotel, hospital, etc. and I need to expand to a higher tier ($900K-2019 or $1.8M-2020) to open my own company. Which one is correct?
The current amount is $500,000 if the business is in a targeted employment area or rural area and $1m for all other non-TEA, RC filings. This may change soon. Presently we can only file direct EB-5 cases, meaning based on having to show 10 full-time regular workers.
The amounts, right now, are $500,000 and $1 million. The only difference is where the project is located: areas of high unemployment and rural areas are the lower, everything else is the higher. Direct versus RC, project type, business type, etc.? None of that affects the investment amount.
The amount depends on where the project is located; $500,000 in a TEA and $1 million otherwise. Each state determines what is an approved TEA.
As of today, the standard minimum investment amount is $1 million and the minimum investment amount for investment in a Targeted Employment Area is $500,000.
I do not know who is giving you advice, but it is definitely 500k/1M right now, regardless of either situation.
Pursuant to the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program Modernization Final Rule ("Final Rule"), from November 21, 2019, the standard minimum investment level increased from $1 million to $1.8 million, or $500,000 to $900,000 if the investment is made in a Targeted Employment Area. On June 22, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, in Behring Regional Center LLC v. Wolf, 20-cv-09263-JSC, vacated the Final Rule and restored the previous lower minimum investment amounts. On August 23, 2021, USCIS filed a Notice of Appeal to challenge the June 22 court ruling, which means that the current lower minimum investment amounts may not last long.
