International students under the U.S. EB-5 investment immigration program can also apply

International students under the U.S. EB-5 investment immigration program can also apply. After seeing the latest scheduling progress and employment-based immigration second priority waiting list announced by the U.S. State Department...

International students under the U.S. EB-5 investment immigration program can also apply. After seeing the recent progress of the US State Department’s scheduling and the second priority status of employment-based immigrants, more and more international students from mainland China are planning to apply for green cards through the EB-5 method. The U.S. EB-5 Investment Immigration Regional Center project has been extended for three years to September 2015. This news undoubtedly brings hope to mainland Chinese students who are planning to participate in the EB-5 Investment Immigration Regional Center project and quickly solve their green card status issues in the United States. The U.S. EB-5 Investment Immigration Regional Center project has been extended for three years to September 2015. This news undoubtedly brings hope to international students from mainland China who are planning to participate in the EB-5 Investment Immigration Regional Center project to quickly solve their green card status problems in the United States. Especially after seeing the scheduling progress recently announced by the U.S. Department of State and the second-priority scheduling status of employment-based immigrants, more and more international students from mainland China are planning to apply for green cards through EB-5. In addition, this year's H-1B quota is quickly exhausted, which has given rise to the idea of ​​applying for EB-5 for many international students who cannot find a job even if they find a job because there is no H-1B quota. According to the current immigration laws, EB-5 investment immigration requires investors to invest US$500,000 or US$1 million to create 10 full-time employment opportunities. They can apply for and obtain a conditional green card in the first phase, and then apply to cancel the conditions in the next two years. The time requirement for international students to apply for a green card through EB-5 is relatively high, because if the international student is already holding F-1 status in the United States, many EB-5 applicants need to successfully obtain EB-5 conditional green card approval and submit an I-485 adjustment of status application before they graduate or OPT expires, in order to obtain a work permit attached to the I-485 application and work in the United States with this work permit to avoid the pain of not having an H-1B quota. If international students are outside the United States, they need to obtain an immigrant visa before the start of American universities at the end of August next year so that they can enter the United States with green card status and enroll on time. Among this group of international students, in addition to high school graduates and college graduates in China, there are also some young students who previously studied in Australia or other countries and now hope to transfer to the United States to continue higher education. Since the time issue is very important for international student EB-5 applicants, careful calculation and planning are required according to the U.S. immigration procedures. So, how to calculate and plan the EB-5 application time and procedures? A case is used as an introduction below. In March 2012, an EB-5 applicant with student status in the United States submitted an I-526 application. The applicant participated in an EB-5 regional center project. This regional center has successfully prepared and completed more than 10 EB5 investment immigration projects, and achieved 100% conditional green card approval and 100% conditional application approval. According to the lawyer’s understanding, the California Service Center, which handles EB-5 investment immigration, has never issued a similar intention to deny or reject previous projects of this regional center. Moreover, investors who participate in this regional center project, whether they are conditional green cards or conditional cancellation applications, often have approval times much faster than the normal processing time announced by the Immigration Bureau. On June 12, 2012, the Immigration Bureau issued a supplementary document notice, requiring EB-5 applicants to provide more evidence to prove the investor’s capital inflow and outflow and financial ability to support the investment immigration application. On August 24, 2012, after thorough preparation, the applicant submitted a response to the Immigration Bureau’s supplementary documents. On August 30, 2012, the USCIS approved the applicant’s EB-5 conditional green card application. Since U.S. immigration law does not allow EB-5 investment immigration applicants to submit I-485 at the same time, applicants must obtain I-526 approval before submitting I-485 application for adjustment of status. When USCIS receives the applicant's I-485 petition, it will issue a work permit and travel permit within approximately 90 days. In this way, the applicant can work in the United States with a work permit without applying for H-1B. To sum up, if an international student already holds legal status in the United States, chooses a regional center project properly, and the project does not raise any issues of concern to the Immigration Bureau, it will take about 6 months to submit the I-485 application and about 9 months to obtain a work permit. If the international student is not in the United States, it will take 6 months after the conditional green card application is approved, plus the time required for the procedures at the U.S. Visa Center and the U.S. Consulate in China.