How can principals in a Chinese-U.S. joint venture use their project to become EB-5 investors?

It is possible to qualify for EB-5 or L-1A options. There are many issues to consider.

An experienced EB-5 attorney can advise you as to the direct EB-5 regulations which will allow the principals to be EB-5 investors

Will the investment be a loan or will it give you equity? You can certainly be investors in a joint venture, but the corporate structure must be carefully handled.

Is the joint venture company based in U.S. or in China? If it is based in the U.S., did the Chinese partners provide capital to the joint venture company? Did you own part of the Chinese company? What is the valuation of your share of the company? As you can see, there are many questions that must be answered before I could answer your question. A quick answer to your question is yes, it is possible. However, you will need an international business lawyer as well as an experienced EB-5 lawyer to work together to successfully help you with this.

As long as you meet the requirements of the EB-5 program, including placing the capital at risk (capital from legal and lawful sources), engagement in the management of the enterprise, and that the business otherwise meets the EB-5 requirements, you could get an approval. Retaining EB5 counsel to prepare the petition is essential.

There are three main items that need to be handled correctly. First, individuals must be the investors in equity in their own names. Second, the money has to be shown as creating at least 10 full-time (35 hours per week) jobs for legal workers on payroll. If under a regional center, the jobs could also be indirect or induced and thus not be on payroll. Finally, all funds must be shown to have come from a lawful source There are several other requirements and possibilities including an L-1 visa.

There are many issues to be aware of. Yes, it will work for EB-5 if sufficient jobs will be created and the proper amount invested depending on whether it is in a Targeted Employment Area or not. You may want to explore potentially doing an L-1A and multinational manager as this will be much quicker and much less expensive if the facts support it.