EB-5 Visa Green Card Process

Three Step process to obtain your U.S. permanent green card

The EB-5 visa process can be complex, confusing, and time consuming. For these reasons, investors seeking an EB-5 immigrant visa prefer using a reputable, federally approved regional center, such as American Life. Our goal is for you to have the most successful outcome possible–both in obtaining your green card and in generating a high return on your capital investment. Read some of our clients' testimonials here.

To date, we have delivered over 200 U.S. permanent green cards (via I-829 approvals) and over 800 U.S. conditional green cards (via I-526 approvals) to our immigrant investors. To review the investment-offering documents and to start filing the EB-5 visa petition with the USCIS, please follow the following step-by-step process:

Step 1—Register and Review Investment Offering Materials

Prospective domestic and EB-5 investors who wish to review American Life's investment offering materials must first register on our website and qualify as an "accredited investor" (discussed in further detail below).

Once we have received your registration material, if you are a qualified investor, we will send you an email invitation within 24 hours to review the offering documents. After receiving your invitation, you will have full access to our secure web section, which contains the following confidential information: 

• Investment offerings documents
• Investment brochure and fact sheet
• EB-5 immigration attorney referral list
• Third-party appraisal documents, if available
• Government approval documents

To review these investment-related documents, please register online and fill out the investor qualification questionnaire. If you have any question about the online registration process, please feel free to contact us, and we will walk you through the application process.

The "accredited investor" is defined by the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 and various state security laws that delineate the permissions of individuals to invest in certain type of investments.

To qualify to invest with American Life, a person must have an individual net worth, or joint net worth with the a spouse, that exceeds $1 million or have an income exceeding $200,000 in each of the two most recent years or joint income with a spouse exceeding $300,000 for those years and a reasonable expectation of the same income level for the current year. 

Step 2—Make Capital Investment and File I-526 Petition

If you decide to invest with American Life, the next step is to fill out the subscription agreement (the last document in the prospectus) and fund your investment. Total funds must be sent to the partnership account per the instructions in the subscription agreement.

Upon receipt of funds, we will also sign the subscription agreement and return it to you. The signed subscription agreement provides the evidence of your investment and your receipt. For immigrant investors, American Life will then submit the investment documents to your immigration attorney to file your I-526 Petition—the initial step of your U.S. green card application.

The USCIS approval process of an I-526 petition typically takes about 4 to 6 months. Upon approval, overseas investors must interview at their local U.S. consulate or embassy. Alternatively, immigrant investors in the U.S. may file an I-485 petition to adjust their status to lawful residency.

In either case, processing time from making the investment to issuance of the conditional visa (green card) will typically take 8 to 12 months.

Upon receiving the conditional visa, the principal applicant and family member(s) must enter the U.S. within 180 days. The two-year conditional period starts the day the applicant enters the U.S.

Step 3—File I-829 Petition and Receive Permanent Green Card

The final step of the immigration process is the filing of the I-829 petition to remove conditions and receive unconditional green card status. The I-829 must be filed between 21 and 24 months after U.S. entry. Upon approval, the immigrant investor will be issued a new unconditional green card and may permanently live and work in the U.S.

See the flow chart on the right for a better understanding of the steps involved in obtaining your EB-5 investor green card. Please also take a look at our frequent asked questions regarding EB-5 immigration and EB-5 investments.