Thursday 14 July 2011

The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa Program: An Exceptional Opportunity to Invest in Major Hotel Projects in the United States

The EB-5 Immigrant Investor visa program has been available for a number of years in different forms; the program, however, has received much more interest from foreign investors in China, India and other international locations in recent years. Funding from the EB-5 program has been used for a number of construction and investment projects, including major hotel projects. In recent years, the EB-5 program has been used to support projects to improve California’s W Hotel and Residences Hollywood (a major project with 305 luxury hotel rooms and nearly 150 private residences, as well as about 25,000 square feet of meeting space. In addition, EB-5 investors have funded construction of a Courtyard and a Residence Inn in New York, and a Westin Hotel in Flushing, New York.

The EB-5 immigrant investor visa program is an exceptional way for investors from China, India and beyond to invest in interesting projects in the hotel and other industries and obtain a path to citizenship. The program continues to grow. In the first half of Fiscal Year 2011, there were nearly 2,000 applications for EB-5 visas; the majority of these applications were from mainland China. In FY 2010, there were 1,885 applications.

Because the EB-5 immigrant investor visa program requires that investors provide at least $500,000 in funds and their investments lead to the creation of at least ten jobs for U.S. workers, the program is ideally situated for hotel investments, in which multiple employees are hired and maintained. This is a strong reason to investigate opportunities in the hotel industry, of which there are many.

What is the EB-5 program? The EB-5 visa is an immigrant visa created in 1990 for foreign nationals who invest in a business that will benefit the U.S. economy and create at least ten full-time jobs for U.S. workers. EB-5 applicants who are accepted for the program receive a visa; visas are also given to eligible spouses and children under the age of 21. The visa proffered is a conditional visa; if the investment project fulfills the requirements of the program after two years, the EB-5 immigrant may then receive permanent resident status and, after five years, apply for U.S. citizenship.

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