Dr. Gregory Finkelson on What You Really Need to Know About the EB-5 Visa

Successful EB-5 Visa Investments Require Due Diligence Outside the United States, Dr. Gregory Finkelson Says

The EB-5 investor visa program is an attractive option for obtaining a green card for residency in the United States.

The qualifications for an EB-5 visa are well-publicized. Non-citizens of the United States and their immediate families, including spouse and unmarried children under the age of 21, can apply for permanent residency in the United States after making investments of US $500,000 to US $1,000,000 that result in the creation of at least 10 jobs for American citizens, permanent residents and employees with work authorization.

Win-Win with EB-5 Investments

The EB-5 visa program creates benefits all around. Developers in the United States gain access to mezzanine loans at low-interest rates without giving up equity. Workers gain job opportunities. Investors who would like to come and go to the United States gain permanent residency status. And the program pays for itself, from the perspective of the US government, by application fees.

What Goes Wrong with EB-5 Visa Applications

Dr. Gregory Finkelson has been President of American Corporate Services, Inc. since 2001. With offices in San Francisco and branches in Delaware, Nevada, and Oregon, as well as in Eastern Europe and China, American Corporate Services has a depth of experience in matching investors seeking EB-5 visas with investment opportunities in the United States.

Dr. Finkelson has a special depth of experience in matching Chinese investors with EB-5 visa investment opportunities. But Dr. Gregory Finkelson emphasizes that just having a million dollars does not guarantee a green card. The EB-5 visa program, as Dr. Gregory Finkelson sees it, faces several challenges.

• With regard to Chinese investment, the EB-5 program is a victim of its own success. The EB-5 program allows 10,000 investor visas per year, with no more than 7 percent going to citizens of any single eligible country. There are currently 100,000 EB-5 visa applicants from China alone, creating a waiting list that will take 15 years to clear. Vietnam and India have a similar backlog of EB-5 investors.
• Due to the complexity of US visa rules, most children of EB-5 investors could age out while they are waiting for a green card.
• The EB-5 visa program welcomes investors from other countries. But it is China that has a mature migration agent market that has educated the largest pool of potential immigrants in the world and that effectively sourced enough capital to meet the needs of US business people accommodating EB-5 investments.

US Developers Need Sophisticated Investor Vetting Now More Than Ever

If the capital isn’t coming from China, Dr. Gregory Finkelson says, then US developers need vetting in other countries with the same level of sophistication provided to Chinese investors. Complying with investment laws and the PATRIOT Act was easier before applications from China exceeded the US government’s ability to process them. But compliance with investment laws and the PATRIOT Act is even more necessary now than ever before.

Dr. Gregory Finkelson can guide your US development project to verified, fully informed, visa-eligible EB-5 investors. Dr. Finkelson has the expertise you need to attract foreign capital to your project in a dynamic international business climate.