Permanent Residency Based on Investment

To qualify for an investor visa, an applicant will need to meet a set of standards as established in the 1990 Immigration Act. As an investor, each applicant will need to meet the following standards:

• The investor must invest or be actively in the process of investing at least $1 million in the enterprise.
• The enterprise must benefit the U.S. economy and must create full-time employment for not less than ten U.S. workers (including citizens, permanent residents, or other "immigrants lawfully authorized to be employed in the United States," but not immediate family members of the alien investor). To show that the new commercial enterprise will create not fewer than ten full-time positions for qualifying employees, the petition must be accompanied by a comprehensive business plan showing that, due to the nature and projected size of the new commercial enterprise, the need for not fewer than ten qualifying employees will result, including approximate dates, within the next two years, when such employees will be hired.
• The investment must be made in a "new commercial enterprise" or a "troubled business."
• The investor must be engaged in the management of the enterprise, either through day-to-day managerial control or through policy formulation.

The regulations require that substantial supporting documentation accompany the filing of a petition. To show that a new commercial enterprise has been established, the investor must submit:

• Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws;
• Certificate evidencing authority to do business in a state or municipality;
• Evidence that the investor has invested or is actively in the process of investing $1 million of capital in a new commercial enterprise, the petition must be accompanied by:
  1. Bank statements showing amounts deposited in United States business accounts for the enterprise;
  2. Evidence of all the assets which have been purchased for use in the United States enterprise, including invoices, sales receipts, and purchase contracts containing brief descriptions of the goods and purchase prices;
  3. Evidence of all property transferred from abroad for use in the United States enterprise, including applicable United States Customs Service commercial entry documents containing brief descriptions and fair market valuations;
  4. Any loan or mortgage agreement, promissory note and security agreement, or other evidence of borrowing which is secured by the assets of the investor, excluding the new commercial enterprise; or
  5. Evidence of funds transferred to the new commercial enterprise in exchange for shares of stock (voting or non-voting, common or preferred) or convertible debentures (subordinated or otherwise).