How can my U.S. joint venture be an EB-5 investment?

The framework you describe rarely works—if you start a new business and create the necessary number of jobs, it can work.

Yes, this can be done. A direct EB-5 enterprise needs to meet certain criteria to qualify for a lower investment amount. EB-5 investment needs to create at least 10 full-time positions (minimum 35/hours a week) for qualified workers lasting at least 2 years except for a troubled business where one may preserve existing positions. A direct EB-5 enterprise may be structured as a limited liability company and your Chinese business partner may be in a limited member/policy-formulation role to qualify for EB-5. You
should consult an experienced EB-5 immigration attorney for case-specific guidance and competent preparation of the EB-5 case.

This should work, yes!

Your business partner is permitted to make his EB-5 investment into the joint venture, assuming the requirements of the EB-5 program are met. He needs to meet the minimum investment amount requirement (US$800,000 or US$1,050,000, depending on whether the company primarily does business in a targeted employment area). He will be required to demonstrate the lawful source and pathway of funds invested, and the company will need to create 10+ full-time jobs. EB-5 investors must be engaged in the management of the company, either through the exercise of day-to-day managerial responsibility or through policy formulation. Finally, the company will need to provide evidence of the lawful source and pathway of the funds invested by non-EB-5 investors.

Yuliya Veremiyenko-Campos, Esq.
Managing Attorney

YVC Legal®
150 Riverside Parkway, Suite 115
Fredericksburg, VA 22406
www.yvclegal.com
yvc@yvclegal.com
+1 (571) 320-7079
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***Yuliya Veremiyenko-Campos is licensed in New York and Maryland. Practice in Virginia is limited to U.S. immigration law.
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Yes, he may. We will need to prove that his investment crested 10 new jobs and that his investment was sustained "at risk" for the required sustainment period, which in all realty is about 3 or more years. Since this will be a "direct" investment, there can be only one EB-5 investor, and the 10 jobs will need to be real new W-2 jobs. There are more details to consider which I am happy to discuss.

Yes that can potentially work provided he is the only EB-5 investor in the private project.