On February 11, 2014 — Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander announced that Canada’s immigrant investor and entrepreneur programs would be terminated. Under Canada’s Immigrant Investor Program, Canada offered guaranteed permanent residence in exchange for a guaranteed $800,000 loan (before 2010, the amount was only $400,000). The United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand require as much as $5 to $10 million, and do not offer up-front permanent residency.

The U.S. now has the opportunity to attract more foreign direct investment and create tens of thousands of jobs through the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. Unlike Canada’s investor program where the program had investors’ loan money to the government for permanent residency, the United States Congress created the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program with the legislative intent to promote job creation and foster economic growth and development in the U.S. Under the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program, each investor is required to demonstrate that at least 10 new jobs were created or preserved as a result of the EB-5 investment, which must be a minimum of $1,000,000, or $500,000 if the funds are invested in certain high-unemployment  or rural areas (i.e. Targeted Employment Areas). The investment can be a direct investment, in which the investor directly purchases an equity stake in a business and is actively involved in the business, or the investor may invest in a Regional Center.

A new economic impact study commissioned by the Association to Invest in the USA ( IIUSA) finds that the U.S. EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa Program contributed $3.39 billion to U.S. GDP and supported over 42,000 U.S. jobs during fiscal year 2012. This is more than a 2-fold increase from the average annual impact result reported in 2011. “The results of the 2012 assessment unequivocally demonstrate that the EB-5 Program is delivering on its promise of regional economic development and U.S. job creation at no cost to the taxpayer.”

If you are an investor seeking to learn more about the EB-5 process or if you are a financier, real estate developer, or other businessperson seeking to learn more about how you could obtain financing from EB-5 investment through using or becoming a Regional Center, please contact us and we will explain and guide you through the entire EB- process. Contact Subhan Law Office, LLC, at (414) 223-5718 or 1-855-946-6848.

To learn more about the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program click here.