A Secret Weapon for Foreign Investors & High-Net-Worth Individuals to Get a Green Card
Applying for an L-1A visa may be the quickest — and cheapest — way for foreign investors and high-net-worth individuals to become permanent residents in the U.S., especially if they’re already working for a company abroad.
Most foreign investors pursue an EB-5 visa to get a green card. But investors may want to consider an L-1A visa along with an EB-1C green card instead.
The Popular EB-5 Visa
Interest in the EB-5 program has grown dramatically in the past few years. In both 2014 and 2015, the EB-5 program reached its quota of 10,000 visas.
With EB-5 visa applications increasing, foreign investors can expect to wait six years or more to receive a permanent resident card (green card) under the program. And the $1 million investment ($500,000 investment in rural or high unemployment areas) required by the EB-5 program must be fully “at risk.” That not only means all of your investment may be lost, but you also risk not getting a green card if your investment fails to create at least 10 full-time U.S. jobs.
What’s more, the EB-5 regional centers program — the most popular of the two EB-5 visa options — has led to some high-profile scandals and its future is uncertain. The regional centers program will sunset on Sept. 30, 2016, and whether that program will continue — and with what investment level — remains unclear.
The L-1A Secret Weapon
An L-1A visa allows a U.S. employer to transfer an executive or manager from an affiliated foreign office to an office in the U.S. if that executive or manager has been working at the company for at least a year.
A foreign investor or high-net-worth individual could start a business or company in her or his home country. If the foreign company has ownership in an existing or new U.S. company, the investor could take on the role of an executive in the the U.S. business and obtain an L-1A visa to work in the U.S. If the U.S. company is less than one year old at the time of filing, the L-1A petition will be approved for one year. At the end of that year, the L-1A visa holder must petition for an extension, which is good for two years. The maximum stay in the U.S. under L-1A status is seven years.
After the U.S. company has been doing business for at least a year, it can sponsor the multinational executive or manager for an EB-1C green card. As of July 1, 2016, the processing time for an EB-1C green card is about six months or less.
What’s the Difference?
If you want to learn more about the requirements of an L-1A visa, look at my previous blog post on the topic. Here’s how the L-1A visa / EB-1C green card and EB-5 green card stack up against one another:
If you want to learn more about the requirements of an L-1A visa, look at my previous blog post on the topic. Here’s how the L-1A visa / EB-1C green card and EB-5 green card stack up against one another:
