I am currently residing in the United States on a work visa. Am I eligible for the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program? Also, are there any additional restrictions for EB-5 investors residing in the United States?
You can file your EB-5 petition while on a non-immigrant work visa. The only restriction while in the United States is that the nonimmigrant work visa you currently possess must not expire to qualify for continuous residency in the U.S. If it expires, you must leave and avoid not being out of status, otherwise, the pending EB-5 petition will be negatively affected. Thanks.
You may apply for EB-5 from the United States since you are currently here but you will need to maintain your valid nonimmigrant status while in the United States. You state you are here on a work visa, so you need to make sure you keep your continuous status. Other examples of valid nonimmigrant status may be the F-1 student visa, Optional Practical Training (OPT) for students (up to 12 months or up to 24 months for STEM students), L-1, E-2 or any other valid nonimmigrant visa.
Yes. There are no restrictions on your ability to apply for EB-5 while in the U.S. on a work visa/nonimmigrant visa. There are no additional restrictions for EB-5 investors who are present in the U.S. during the process.
You are not restricted from applying for an EB-5 visa by filing an I-526 petition, assuming you have the requisite investment amount $500,000 / $1 million originating from a lawful source of funds and are otherwise eligible. To adjust status to a conditional green card holder in the U.S., you must maintain your underlying work visa status while I-526 petition is pending and until it is approved. Current I-526 processing times are about 21-24 months. Assuming your immigrant visa category is current (based on your country of chargeability) at the time your I-526 petition is approved, you may file for adjustment of status in the U.S. Currently, Chinese mainland born nationals are subject to an immigrant visa backlog and a significant wait time.
If you invest the requisite amount, the project creates the requisite number of jobs, and you are not inadmissible, then you can apply for an EB-5 visa. EB-5 is a green card and that may make it harder to get certain visas, such as student or visitor visas. So, it depends on what type of visa you currently hold, but most people can apply for EB-5 and can always apply for the green card at the U.S. consulate in their home country which is usually preferable. Once you have a green card, you are expected to live in the U.S. and pay taxes on worldwide income.
There are no restrictions for EB-5 investors residing in the U.S. if their visa is current. As soon as the visa or your stay expires, you will have to leave the U.S. if your I-526 is not approved at that time. However, you cannot reside on a B1/B2 visa.
If you have a valid status to live and work in U.S., you may apply for any immigrant visa category, including EB-5, by following that category process steps. While you are applying for any immigrant visa program, it is very important to maintain your current visa status without letting it lapse until immigrant petition; in the case of EB-5, the I-526, is approved and then you file I-485 adjustment application (at minimum). It is best if you could maintain your status until the adjustment application is approved.
H and L visas allow dual intent; other visas would need to be analyzed to make sure there are no conflicting intents.
If you have an H-1B or L-1, then there are no restrictions. If you have another non-immigrant visa, you must ensure you are able to prove temporary intent when you renew the visa or enter the U.S.
If you hold an H or L visa, there are no restrictions on applying for permanent residence through the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program.
Any individual currently residing in the U.S. on a valid non-immigrant work visa is perfectly eligible to file an EB-5 Investor Petition on Form I-526 and to qualify for Lawful Permanent Residency on such basis while living in the U.S. on a valid non-immigrant work visa.
Foreign nationals in the U.S. on nonimmigrant work visas are eligible for the EB-5 program. However, there can be certain restrictions with respect to filing an I-526 petition and adjustment of status application depending on the type of work visa you have. If you are here on an L-1 or an H-1B visa there are few, if any restrictions. If you are on a different type of work visa that requires you to maintain nonimmigrant intent, there may be some restrictions on travel and visa renewals once you start the EB-5 process.
Any non-immigrant in H-1B status can apply to immigrate in any manner that they qualify for without repercussion, so long as they remain in nonimmigrant status and are subject to one mitigating provision: they can lack a status or violate a status for no more than 180 days before being prevented from adjusting status in the United States.
