Questions and Answers > EB-5 Investments

How much of a time commitment is the EB-5 application process?

I am looking into the EB-5 program for me and my wife. We have very busy lives and I am wondering how much time I should expect to spend on the EB-5 investment and application process? Not in terms of processing wait-times, but on meeting with an attorney, actually filling out the forms, visiting regional center project sites, etc. On average, how much time do EB-5 investors have to put into the investment immigration process?

Answers

• Julia Roussinova

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on November 6, 2015

  It is not necessary for you to visit a project or regional center headquarters. You should engage an EB-5 immigration attorney who will generally do most of the work for you and analyze the regional center's offering documentation before you sign. You should expect to spend 30 minutes or so on answering a regional center's investor suitability questionnaire, and you will also need to work with your attorney to provide documents on your lawful source of funds, which will depend on your specific situation. An attorney will be able to guide you and explain in simple terms what he or she needs from you. The time commitment should be very reasonable.

• Elizabeth Krukova

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on November 5, 2015

  An investor does not have to visit the regional center or the site of the actual project. The forms and entire application are prepared by an attorney. You should expect to spend at least 15 minutes answering the questionnaire of the regional center and about same time answering the attorney's questionnaire. You will spent most of your time gathering documents as proof of income requested by your attorney depending on your unique situation, and that is very personal and differs depending on your situation. It is safe to say that it would take more than two hours even if you are organized with your paperwork.

• John J Downey

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on November 5, 2015

  There is no time schedule except to say how much time do you need to find out if you want to invest $500,000 or $1 million of your money in a project?

• Salvatore Picataggio

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on November 4, 2015

  Potential investors should be prepared to carefully review all project documents and to work with your immigration attorney for the authentication of the source of funds. This may require several meetings or phone calls with the project principals and your immigration attorney.

• Bernard P Wolfsdorf

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on November 4, 2015

  Depending on your counsel, it is really only a few hours. Of course, it depends on who you are working with.

• Michael A Harris, Esq

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on November 4, 2015

  On average, I would say about three months. But in cases where investors want to file sooner, I have made that accommodation. For example, if an investor has a child who will be turning 21, a filing could be accomplished in about one month. Having the right, experienced counsel who can help you to weed out the regional center projects will also be critical especially if you are trying to narrow your choice down to one out of hundreds of projects.

• Russell C Weigel, III

  Securities Attorney

  Answered on November 4, 2015

  Unfortunately, there is no precise answer to your question, but there are guideposts. From an investment standpoint, the answer may depend on your level of risk tolerance. How much time would you normally take to get comfortable investing in an illiquid investment that may or may not be secured by collateral, that has a holding period of at least two years, and that has no guarantee of return? If the return of investment is less of a concern than receiving the visa, you should still spend enough time shopping for an investment opportunity to ensure that it will be viable long enough for the visa to be issued. If you do not want to search for investments on your own, you can contact a licensed securities broker, business broker, or investment adviser familiar with EB-5 investment opportunities. These professionals may be able to save you a considerable amount of time by presenting you with qualified, bona fide, investments.

• Ian E Scott

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on November 4, 2015

  The timing of the EB-5 process really depends on how much you want to get personally involved. You can hire an immigration lawyer, an investment adviser, and other consultants, so that you could spend very little time. Most of our EB-5 clients who invest in regional centers spend most of their time pulling together the source of funds documentation. If the money for the investment came from a easily verifiable source, then this requirement would not be too onerous.

• Vaughan de Kirby

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on November 4, 2015

  If you are doing a regional center investment, your time commitment should be very reasonable. Your attorney will work with you to identify the documentation necessary to prove the source and path of your investment funds. Once these documents are provided to the attorney, you are 90 percent there. Do let your attorney know of your time limitations, and he or she can adapt to your personal needs.