Questions & Answers

What is considered being a public charge during EB-5 conditional residence?

An EB-5 investor is in his two-year conditional residence and he has Medicaid. Will he be considered a public charge? Will this affect his filing of the I-829 petition later? What constitutes being a public charge during conditional residence?

Answers

• Jinhee Wilde

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on November 5, 2015

  Medicaid is a healthcare program for people with very low income and assets. I am not sure how he obtained that benefit with the EB-5 investment of $500,000 minimum, which is part of his assets, unless he failed to disclose that. In addition to the issue of being a burden to the government system as a public charge for receiving this benefit, he may also have an issue of lying on the government application. There are many immigrants who divest themselves of their assets to their children in order to receive these public benefits. But, all of that is abusing and draining the program that was designed to help the poor who really need it. No one who has enough money to invest a minimum of $500,000 to obtain an immigration benefit should be on the public welfare system.

• Bernard P Wolfsdorf

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on November 5, 2015

  Certain public benefits can be accepted see www.nilc.org/health-publicbens.html.

• John J Downey

  Immigration Attorney

  Answered on November 5, 2015

  Medicaid is not considered a public charge. Receiving welfare would be considered a public charge.