How many EB5 visas are available every year?
Of the 10,000-investor visas available annually, 5,000 are set-aside for those who apply under a pilot program involving a CIS-designated “Regional Center.” A “Regional Center:” • Is an entity, organization or agency that has been approved as such by the “Service” • Focuses on a specific geographic area within the United States; and, Seeks to promote economic growth through increased export sales, improved regional productivity, creation of new jobs, and increased domestic capital investment. “Alien investors” must: • Demonstrate that a “qualified investment” (see below) is being made in a new commercial enterprise located within an approved Regional Center; and, • Show, using reasonable methodologies, that 10 or more jobs are actually created either directly or indirectly by the new commercial enterprise through revenues generated from increased exports, improved regional productivity, job creation, or increased domestic capital investment resulting from the pilot program.
