Theoretically, could I get an EB-5 visa if I owned $500,000 or more of shares in a U.S. company, such as Apple? Would this count as creating/preserving 10 jobs? If not, what other passive investments are there to obtain the EB-5 visa that do not require creating a business, which is high maintenance?
No, stock ownership is not a valid EB-5 project. There really is no "passive" investment for the program. As far as "high maintenance" goes, there really is not too much involved if you are a limited partner, which is what most EB-5 investors are.
In order to obtain permanent residency under EB-5, your investment must be active where you are involved in day-to-day management or a policy-setting body, such as a member of the board. Being one of the limited partners in a limited partnership also qualifies as an active investment. The mere purchase of stocks in a publicly traded company is not sufficient.
Passive investments do not work for the EB-5 program. Investment through a regional center can involve less headaches than creating a business. The regional center will have done most of this work for its investors.
Passive investments do not count for EB-5 purposes.
No, this type of passive investment will not work for EB-5 purposes. I recommend you consider a regional center under the guidance of a registered broker dealer with the help of an investment immigration attorney.
You can invest through a regional center and you will not be involved in the management of any business venture. This is as passive a management as you can get.
You can invest into a good regional center with $500,000 only, which is very similar to the shareholder of Apple. The regional center will take care of all the job creation and other requirements. You can choose to be a shareholder or creditor of the company.
For EB-5 immigrant investor purposes, mere money investment without an active role at either the policy level (as a limited liability partner) or operations level, would not qualify. So money invested in Apple stock would not qualify. You may want to look into investing in a regional center-managed commercial enterprise where you would have the role of a limited liability partner and not a part of the active management of the business/operations.
The "active" management requirement means you need some rights to participate in the business, even if just voting on policy matters and such. Besides, an investment like the one you pose would be into an existing company, which has different job creation requirements. Really, the key to the program is developing projects in areas that need job creation, not just placing money somewhere for a few years. I do not think that USCIS would accept this kind of investment.
To be direct, passive investments are not deemed at risk and do not qualify for EB-5. You need to research regional centers and active projects to minimize risk. Alternatively, run your own business.
