Immigration Central: Is EB-5, not H1-B, the quickest ticket to the US permanent residency?

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With layoffs and uncertainties looming in the US job market, there has been a spike in applications for EB-5 (Investor visa) as the best route to permanent residency in the US. According to Nicholas A Mastroianni, III, president and chief marketing officer of US Immigration Fund (USIF), there are around 150 EB-5 inquiries per day, mostly from skilled workers already in the US who have either been laid off or are worried about losing their jobs.

Created in 1992 by the US Congress for boosting the US Economy through foreign investments, the EB-5 Regional Centers act as a medium between the investor and EB-5 Projects. Under mandate by Congress, Regional Center EB-5 petitions are given priority often resulting in a quicker path to approval, as such they are the quickest route to EB-5.

Known as EB-5 for the name of the employment-based fifth preference visa that participants receive, the program is one of the most sought-after options for permanent residency in the United States. The USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) administers the EB-5 Program under which investors (and their spouses and unmarried children under 21) are eligible to apply for a Green Card (permanent residence) if they make the necessary investment in a commercial enterprise in the US; and plan to create or preserve 10 permanent full-time jobs for qualified US workers.

An EB-5 Regional Centre is an economic unit, public or private, in the US that is involved with promoting economic growth. The USCIS designates regional centres for participation in the Immigrant Investor Program.