For anyone looking to relocate overseas, the United States has always been an attractive prospect, however, accessibility and processes of application have historically been rather exclusive. In some ways, this is still true, yet the potential for relocation through residency is being facilitated through a number of other avenues, including investment.
This is especially interesting when we bear in mind the effects of the pandemic which, for a majority of us, includes a desire for new surroundings, and those of you with the capital assets to make the appropriate investment can now add the United States to your list of potential candidates for relocation.
What is a residency?
To provide you with a little bit of context before getting into the main subject of today, residency is an official permission granted to someone with a different nationality, allowing them to live and work for a specified period of time, in this case, in the US.
Residency is either temporary or permanent, the difference between the two being that the former is a short period of time and the latter is valid permanently, meaning you are able to stay for an indefinite period for you to be able to apply for citizenship after the requisite period should you wish. The specific residency we will outline below is the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program.
Can I apply for this visa?
A good place to start with regards to the Program itself is with the requirements, please find these below:
· US$1,000,000 investment in a non-targeted employment area
· US$500,000 investment in a targeted employment area (rural location or area where unemployment is high)
At this stage, we should mention that the money for the investment must come from your own capital assets and not borrowed in the form of a loan. The values are extremely high in comparison with other residency by investment programs around the globe, but for residency in one of the biggest superpowers in the world, this was bound to be the case.
What is interesting is that the investment is into a commercial enterprise, meaning you are not just donating this money to the government, but the trade-off is that after two years of establishment, 10 people, not including any family members covered by your residency, must have legal full-time employment within your enterprise.
What are the steps for the program in the US?
These visas for residency are not unlimited, so while the steps we outline below are fixed, being accepted also depends on how many of the 140,000 annual residencies have already been granted. Regardless of this, the process runs as follows:
1. Complete the relevant application form and pay the fees
2. Submit documentation (passport copy and photos, civil documents, proof of financial solvency, medical exam forms, vaccination proof, criminal records)
3. Visa interview
In terms of an average time frame, it has been said that the process can take up to two years, which seems a rather long time, though it can be only twenty months depending on the authorities.
At the end of this period, you will receive your conditional green card and be able to reside in the US while you establish your enterprise. After five years of permanent residence in possession of a green card, it will be possible for you to naturalise and become a US citizen, perhaps making the initial twenty months seem more worth it with the long term in mind.
So, if you are interested in finding out more about residency by investment in the United States, as well as other opportunities to develop business as in cryptocurrency, contact us today! Below this article you will find a link to set up a free fifteen-minute consultation with us to discuss your options further.
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