EB-5 Primer

The media is still full of EB-5 stories, but many reports struggle to explain EB-5. Are we selling citizenship? Is this a cash-for-visas program? Why would a luxury project by celebrity New York developers get to benefit from immigrant investment?

Strictly speaking, EB-5 is not a visa-for-cash program but a visa-for-employment program. The “EB” in EB-5 stands for Employment Based. While some countries do sell citizenship, Congress took care to set up the US program differently. An EB-5 investor can get conditional permanent residence for making a qualifying investment that will result in creation of at least 10 jobs, and may eventually get a permanent green card if the investor sustains the investment and can go on to demonstrate that jobs were in fact created. Cash alone does not win EB-5 status.

Another distinctive feature of the US investor visa program is that it involves private sector investment, not government-sponsored or government-controlled investment opportunities. The prospective immigrant is free to choose to invest in anything from an Iowa farm to a New Jersey skyscraper, and may apply for a visa if job creation and other requirements can be met. Senator Grassley would like the EB-5 investor to chose the Iowa farm, and the investor might prefer it as well if the government bore the risk and responsibility for the choice and replaced market forces in underwriting the investment’s success. The government makes no such offer, however, and the investor is left to decide which private investment opportunity is most suitable. The government influences application of immigrant investor capital in two ways: by defining requirements for EB-5 eligibility, and by offering incentives. An eligible EB-5 investment must be at-risk investment of a certain amount in a for-profit enterprise that creates a certain number and kind of jobs, among other requirements, and the “Targeted Employment Area” incentive with reduced investment was designed to reward investment in high-unemployment and rural areas.

Some observers are concerned that the TEA incentive hasn’t functioned as intended, and that EB-5 investor capital is benefiting the wrong places and the wrong people. Others worry that the investment and job creation requirements need to be more robust to realize Congressional intent. EB-5 reform legislation targets these issues, as do proposed regulations from DHS. And to quote a White House spokesman, the administration “is evaluating wholesale reform of the EB-5 program to ensure that the program is used as intended and that investment is being spread to all areas of the country.”

For additional reading, see my post with comparison of investor immigration programs worldwide based on a Migration Policy Institute report, and my summary of TEA incentive proposals in proposed regulations and legislation (now significantly revised and expanded, and I welcome additional corrections).