More EB-5 News

Why the EB-5 green card is so fast.

EB-5 investor visas are now the quickest way to immigrate and obtain a green card, behind marrying a U.S. citizen, being a person of extraordinary ability, an outstanding researcher or a national interest waiver petition (except for China and India the national interest is slower than EB-5). This is because there are a guaranteed 10,000 EB-5 visa numbers each year and only about a third have never been used.

The typical employment-sponsored visa categories take years to complete. For example, the employment based 2nd and 3rd preferences require a labor certification from the Department of Labor proving worker shortage (which in this economy can be hard to obtain for non-technology workers) that can take a year and a half to be issued. One must then wait for a visa number to complete the green card process. Applicants from China and India under the EB-2 must wait years for visa numbers.

The EB-3 category for all countries can take seven to eight years for a visa number and up to 20 years for a person from China or India. Some day Congress will fix the system – but in the meantime, EB-5 processing in about one year remains very appealing. Most EB-5s invest in Regional Centers, which are limited partnerships.

There are now 70 approved Regional Centers and 30 on file. Many are placeholders and not off the ground. Only about 20 are active. I can send you a list of the established Regional Centers and a few of the new ones. Another alternative involves investing in one’s own business. In either the regional center or your own business 10 jobs must be created.

I can refer investors to a risk analyst to help evaluate regional center projects. I also have an easy to understand flowchart of the EB-5 process. It is up on my website in English and Chinese.

Martin J. Lawler

H-1B Visa Filings are Rapidly Using All Available Visa Numbers

All wanting an H-1B visa should apply now. As of November 30, USCIS has received about 58,900 H-1B cases for the 64,000 available visa numbers (the law provides 65,000 numbers and some are reserved for Singapore and Chile). In the past week, the USCIS received about 2,000 applications up from 1,300 the week before.

I hope you had a good Thanksgiving holiday.

Martin J. Lawler