How can an imports and exports firm qualify as an EB-5 project? - EB5Investors.com

How can an imports and exports firm qualify as an EB-5 project?

I plan to start a retail business, a trading company, in the United States to be eligible for an EB-5 green card. Would an import/export company qualify as an EB-5 project, given we will employ more than 10 U.S. citizens and the business will last longer than the obligatory two years? Can I show the $1.05 million investment by importing and exporting our inventory or by creating the company? If so, will the import or export be considered an EB-5 investment? 

Answers

Lynne Feldman

Lynne Feldman

Find an EB-5 Visa Lawyer: Immigration Attorney
Answered on

It will only count if already transferred to the U.S. entity prior to filing the I-526.

Bernard P Wolfsdorf

Bernard P Wolfsdorf

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Answered on

Technically, any lawful activity can qualify, and inventory can technically qualify as capital but in practice this type of case is very difficult because the salaries alone will cost millions.

Belma Demirovic Chinchoy

Belma Demirovic Chinchoy

Find an EB-5 Visa Lawyer: Immigration Attorney
Answered on

All types of (federally legal) businesses qualify for EB-5, and an import-export business is fine.
A definition of qualifying EB-5 capital is provided below. You can “invest” inventory – i.e., your investment does not have to in cash, but you will have to show that you personally own the inventory and how you purchased it with your assets.
Congress has defined “capital” as “cash and all real, personal, or mixed tangible assets owned and controlled by the . . . investor, or held in trust for the benefit of the [investor] and to which the [investor] has unrestricted access.”[5] Also consistent with past definitions, the statute now provides that capital must be valued at fair market value in U.S. dollars, in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles or other standard accounting practice adopted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, at the time it is invested.[6]

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