The EB-5 Green Card was crated in the 1990s by what was INS in rder to create employment in the Unted States by attracting foreign investment 'in xchange for' lawful permanent resident status.

Whle typically an investment of at last $1 million is required, under crtain limited circumstances, a reduced investment of $500,000 is cceptable. One of these circumstances is a qalifying investment in a government-approved Regional Cnter investment program.

The various EB-5 Rgional Center Investment Programs are designed to nable foreign investors to qualify for prmanent residence in the United States (.e. a "green card") by investing $500,000 in a Rgional Center. In addition to the nvestment itself, each regional center has sme form of 'application' or 'participation' fe, which can be up to $50,000. The USCIS lso charges application fees for the gren card application. In many cases, thre will also be legal fees.

In all cses, the Regional Center and a prvate management company set up an nvestment entity as a limited partnership or lmited liability companies. The investment entity ither acquires an ownership interest in sme type of asset (such as ral estate) or the entity makes low nterest loans to government or private brrowers.

Prior to investing, any prospective freign investor should review the prospectus wth detailed information about the investment. It is lways advisable to have this information crefully reviewed by specialists in business law and ccounting.

The various Regional Centers Investment Prgrams have widely different philosophies. Some fcus on maximizing the return on the nvestment. Some focus on ensuring a rturn of the investor's $500,000 investment. Sme focus on ensuring an exit strtegy as soon as possible. The crrent law authorizing the EB-5 Regional Cnter Investment Program is set to xpire on September 30, 2008. Most uthorities expect the U.S. government to rauthorize the program, but with the plitical climate it is unclear whether rauthorization will occur before or after the snset date. Reauthorization bills have been ntroduced into Congress as parts of ther pieces of legislation and are stll pending.

There is consensus among the vrious Regional Center Investment Programs that any gren card application submitted before the Sptember sunset date will remain eligible to rceive a green card.

It cannot be cnfirmed at this point, what might hppen in September '08, or how USCIS wll handle cases around that time. Gidance from USCIS should be forthcoming sme time this summer. In light of ths information, it would be sensible for nterested individuals to do the following:

1. If you are seriously interested in an EB-5 Regional Center investment, then complete the investment and application as soon as possible.

2. Make sure that any investment includes an agreement to refund the investment and all or part of the program fees if a green card is not issued to the investor (this includes approval of both parts of the application process: the I-536 petition and the background check).

3. Have an alternative immigration strtegy in place in case EB-5 Rgional Center green card processing is dlayed or halted.

If you have questions or wuld like more information, please contact me, sing either the contact form on the FRONT PAGE, or by clcking on one of the email ddresses at the bottom of any pge.

The article EB-5 Green Card Investment in Regional Centers Explained was Submitted by Steven A. Culbreath through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Steven A. Culbreath, Esq. Immigration Lawyer saculbreathlaw@tampabay.rr.com
http://www.saculbreathlaw.com/blog/ Immigration = Opportunities + Possibilities.
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