Immigration Law

Permanent Residency For Investors

By Robert Kraft

An employment-based category is available for an individual who has already invested or plans to invest in a new commercial enterprise employing at least 10 full-time workers. This category allows such an investor to obtain permanent residency within a year.

In order to qualify as an investor, the foreign national must meet certain requirements as provided in the regulations.

First, the investor must invest or be actively in the process of investing at least $1,000,000 in the enterprise. The enterprise may be in the form of creating an original business, or purchasing an existing business and simultaneously or subsequently restructuring or reorganizing the business such that a new commercial enterprise results, or expanding an existing business by 140 percent of the pre-investment number of jobs or net worth, or retaining all existing jobs in a troubled business that has lost 20 percent of its net worth over the past 12 to 24 months. Instead of investing $1,000,000, the investor may opt to invest at least $500,000 where the investment is being made in a "targeted employment area," which is an area that has experienced unemployment of at least 150 per cent of the national average rate, or a rural area as designated by the Office of Management and Budget.

The source of funds must be obtained through lawful means, and the capital may be in the form of cash, equipment, inventory, certificates of deposit, treasury bonds, or other instruments that can be converted readily into cash. Since the rationale behind this category is to benefit the economy of the United States, the new commercial enterprise must create full-time employment for not fewer than 10 qualified individuals, or maintain the number of existing employees at no less than the pre-investment level for a period of at least two years, where the capital investment is being made in a "troubled business," which is a business that has been in existence for at least two years and that has lost 20 percent of its net worth over the past 12 to 24 months. The investor must be active in the new commercial enterprise, and this requirement could be accomplished by participating in the day-to-day managerial control.

Once the above documentation is gathered, the foreign investor must file, on his or her own behalf, an Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur on Form I-526, with the Immigration Service. Once the petition is approved, the foreign national will go to the U.S. consulate in his or her country of residence, and will file an application for an immigrant visa. The foreign national will thereafter receive conditional residency. Conditional residency is the same as permanent residency, but it is used to deter visa fraud. The difference between conditional and permanent residency is that after a year and nine months, the investor has to file another petition to remove entrepreneur conditions on Form I-829. The petition is accompanied with supporting documentation of the aforementioned documents. Once the conditions are removed, the investor will become a permanent resident. After five years of being a permanent resident, the foreign national can apply for U.S. citizenship.

Please call us at 214-999-9999 for more information on how to obtain permanent residency for Investors.

Full post as published by Immigration Law Answers Blog on February 18, 2008 (boomark / email).