Having a million dollars will not necessarily bring you an EB5 investor visa. The program is so designed that the law can hardly be tricked and paperwork is so sophisticated that only an EB5 lawyer can master his way in and out a maze of eligibility requirements, terms, and conditions.
The EB5 investor visa program has aroused the interest of many individuals who wanted to obtain a green card for the United States and whose only advantage was money. Despite the mutual benefits of the program,
the maze of paperwork and the complexity of the eligibility requirements require the professional assistance of an EB5 lawyer.
The EB5 lawyer has mainly two tasks related to the EB5 investor visa, apart from the inherent responsibilities of representing the clients’ best interest. The lawyer needs to identify the most adequate regional center to invest in for the particular situation of the client. He or she also needs to provide complete petition preparation services.
Choosing the Right Regional Center
There are several steps which an EB5 lawyer needs to follow so that the client is properly advised and explained all options related to regional centers before actually making a decision. The success of obtaining an EB-5 investor visa depends very much on the selection of the regional center. Here are some of them:
• Case evaluation involves an assessment of the eligibility criteria, possible causes for inadmissibility, ability to demonstrate the lawful source of the investment, and so on.
• Preliminary assessment of regional centers so that the choices are narrowed down to several best suited solutions for your situation.
• Analysis of the offering documents such as subscription agreement or partnership agreement as per the requirements of selected regional centers.
• Review of financial statements of the regional centers such as cash flow or net worth statements.
• Interview of principles of selected centers with the purpose of clarifying any ambiguous issues, understanding and evaluating the character of the principal, and challenging marketing claims.
• Final selection of regional center
Petition Preparation Service
Again, it is not enough to choose a regional center and it is not enough to have the money to be invested. How you should handle the investment procedures, only an EB5 lawyer can advise you. An EB-5 investor visa is not as easy to obtain as it may seem and petition preparation services play an instrumental role towards achieving it. Here are the precise solutions that your EB5 specialist should offer:
• Drafting and submission of I-526 petition is based on working with the client in order to prepare, modify, improve, complete, and finally submit the petition which is actually the application for the EB-5 investor visa.
• Adjustment of status is about choosing the solution to either bring the investor in the US or adjust his or her status if he or she already lives in the US.
• Constant updating and monitoring of the selected regional center
• Preparing and submitting the I-829 petition. Initially the EB5 investment visa is a temporary or conditional residence, limited to two years. In order to make it a permanent solution, the I-828 petition must be prepared and submitted, 3 months before the receipt of the 2-year green card
• Applying for naturalization is the final step and it is not such a complex procedure. The EB5 lawyer needs to prepare the N-400 form, advice on study materials to pass the US Naturalization Test, and counsel related to the swearing ceremony.
