Manc

I don't understand why people buy homes in the USA before they consider the immigration implications.

Costa Del Sol / Algarve would be a hell of a lot less hassle.

plus you're home is 2 hours on Easyjet.

Ray

We have half of bleedin michigan here in the winter ..they should go to bleedin Portugal ....

Manc

you're welcome.

fatbrit

Armadillo wrote:
>without any trouble?

Immigration and visas are always trouble in the US. The only people who don't get it at the border are citizens -- provided they haven't been labelled as enemy combatants, of course!

If you can afford a house for cash in CA, you can probably afford an EB-5. This is probably your best route given your stated aims on this board. You have a lot of research to do -- you should probably have done it before you bought the house.

armadillo

Thanks for all the replies... some of course diverted from the subject matter ... but funny.

now are thinking about investing to get rights to live.

Any ideas on where to start - is the 1,000,000 USD and 10 people employment - rigid? Or is it that amount of money over a period of time

armadillo

now having read the e2 visa stuff on uscis there are three options. Do we need to invest $1M - or can we buy an existing business for less as long as we increase the revenue of that business by the 'said' figure - think it was like 25%.

thanks - acutally now we are very interested in getting a business - give us something to do (we are only 40 after all).

fatbrit

You're confused: the E-2 will take around $250k or so BUT it is a crap visa without a green card and your US life is tied to your US business and you're not treated well by the authorities. Not a good place to be...

The EB-5 is the big money one. But it can give you the green card and then citizenship -- so you can do here what the hell you want 'cept get caught smoking dope!

Caveat emptor -- plenty of sharks trawling the water where you wish to swim. There is no alternative but to do your own copious research, even if employing the services of a professional.

armadillo

Thanks - appreciate yr advice. So approx $250 K investment for E2 and $1M for the other one?

And thanks for advice re reseacrh - luckily we have 18 months to do it in.

Andrew Wilson

You do not need to invest $1 million and strat up a busi ness with 10 employees in order to qualify for a green card under the EB-5 category.

Perhaps more appealing, and soemthingw e just recently did for a cleint, is qualify for the EB-5 by investing $500,000 into certain real estate projects in the U.S.

Here is an overview of the EB-5 program for certain investors:

OVERVIEW OF EB-5 IMMIGRANT INVESTOR CATEGORY

In 1990, Congress created the employment based 5th preference (EB-5) immigrant visa category. The EB-5 offers 10,000 “green cards” (permanent resident status) annually to immigrants who invest in U.S. businesses that benefit the economy and create or save jobs. While the normal required minimum investment is $1 million, that amount is reduced to $500,000 if the investment is made in a high unemployment area.

The immigrant may invest in a new start-up business or in an existing entity. After the immigrant moves forward with the investment and is approved by Citizenship and Immigration services (CIS), s/he obtains conditional residence status for two years. After two years, if s/he proves that s/he maintained the investment and created or saved at least ten jobs, the conditional status will be removed and s/he will become a full-fledged lawful permanent resident.

PRIVATE REGIONAL CENTER (PRC)

A PRC is a private business entity that is pre-approved by the U.S. government for an EB-5 and that satisfies certain geographical, growth of economy and employment criteria. Once the government has approved a PRC, a foreign investor identifies the right opportunity and invests the $500,000 in the regional center’s project. A positive return on investment coupled with U.S. permanent resident status provides more than enough incentive for the foreign investor.

Over 25 EB-5 regional centers exist around the United States, including in Texas, California, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Hawaii. Other applications are pending from such states as Iowa and New York. Examples of PRC projects include urban development, providing bridge loans to companies for renovations, purchasing, renovating and managing industrial properties, purchasing land and harvesting export crops.

The minimum investment for an EB-5/PRC project is $500,000. The money is released for project use when the immigrant is conditionally approved for the green card and refunded if s/he is denied. The investment vehicle is usually a limited partnership (pooled investments) with a General Partner receiving fees. Rates of return on the investment vary, of course, but current real estate projects average 4-5% on renting and a portion of profits on sale. In addition to a positive return, the foreign national is able to obtain U.S. permanent resident status through the investment.

It should be noted, however, that investments into qualified PRCs are not restricted to intending immigrants. The projects have universal appeal to all investors, including U.S. citizens. In fact, through discussions with principals of operating PRCs, I have learned that many U.S. citizens prefer these investment projects because they offer cash on cash returns with low risk inherent in real estate. In addition, the projects are exclusive equity deals because no bank financing is necessary.

POSITIVE OUTLOOK FOR THE EB-5

For a variety of reasons, the EB-5 program has always been underutilized. At its height in 1997, only 1,300 people obtained green cards through the EB-5 program. This represented only about 13% of the annual limit. Then, in 1998, the former Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) changed its interpretation of the EB-5 program, making it extremely difficult for new investors to qualify.

The good news is that in November 2003, Congress signaled its continued interest in the EB-5 program by passing a five-year extension of the EB-5 regional center pilot program. This subset of the EB-5 program allows the government to set aside up to 3,000 of the 10,000 EB-5 green cards each year for investors who invest in designated governmental or private regional centers. EB-5 petitions filed through regional centers only have to show indirect, not direct, job creation.

Regards,

Andrew M. Wilson, Esq.

armadillo

[QUOTE=Andrew Wilson]You do not need to invest $1 million and strat up a busi ness with 10 employees in order to qualify for a green card under the EB-5 category.

Perhaps more appealing, and soemthingw e just recently did for a cleint, is qualify for the EB-5 by investing $500,000 into certain real estate projects in the U.S.

-------

appreciate yr help there.

any advice as well on the E2 visa?

I assume thats what most brits in Florida do?

Bob

the other half from maine then?

Bob

Reasons for it being looked down on, if the business goes under or you retire, you have to leave asap, any kids would have to get there own visa in there own right at 21 years of age, there's no direct route to a greencard, visa has to be renewed every couple of years...and medical insurance would be rather expensive as you won't really be able to use travel insurance from the UK.

scrubbedexpat099

[QUOTE=armadillo] www.floridaforums.com

http://www.investorvisausa.com/visareqs.html

As has been said many minuses.

My assumption is that most who have emmigrated, no matter where they are, have US spouses or through Work. Probably family next, Florida may have a high number of tourists.

There seems to be quite a few E2 in Florida, but overall numbers may still be small.

Kate2112

[QUOTE=armadillo] Whats so appealing about living in the US? I'm genuinely interested to know?

fatbrit

As the lawyer said.

BTW, if you're looking to move in 18 months, you're looking to put the applications in around about now!