In his campaign to reinvent Michigan and make the state more welcoming to foreign investors and highly skilled talent, Governor Rick Snyder has launched the Global Michigan Initiative to attract entrepreneurs and talented workers from around the world to come to Michigan to live, work and build a business.
Under the governor’s direction, MEDC and the Michigan Civil Rights Department are enlisting public and private organizations in the effort to attract highly skilled immigrants from beyond our borders and from other states, to retain legal foreign nationals after they graduate from Michigan universities with advanced degrees, and find foreign-born nationals who are already in the state but underutilized.
At the federal level, the government’s EB-5 visa program provides up to 10,000 immigrant visas per year to qualified investors seeking permanent resident status on the basis of their investment in a new commercial enterprise.
Within this portal you will find information on the federal EB-5 investment and visa program and the High Unemployment Areas for EB-5’s Targeted Employment Areas, including a web-certification letter for Michigan’s High Unemployment Areas, and a list of EB-5 Regional Centers within Michigan. Permanent resident status based on EB-5 eligibility is available to investors who invest at least $1 million in a new commercial enterprise that they have established, including the creation of an original business.
About the EB-5 Investment and Visa Program
The U.S. federal government provides up to 10,000 immigrant visas per year to qualified investors seeking permanent resident status on the basis of their investment in a new commercial enterprise. This visa program is popularly called the EB-5 visa program.
Permanent resident status based on EB-5 eligibility is available to investors who invest at least $1,000,000 into a new commercial enterprise that they have established. A new commercial enterprise includes: the creation of an original business, the purchase of an existing business and restructuring or reorganizing the business to the extent that a new commercial enterprise results, or expanding upon an existing business. An applicant seeking status as an immigrant investor must demonstrate that his/her investment will benefit the United States economy and create full-time employment for no fewer than ten qualified individuals, or maintain that number of existing employees in a “troubled business”.
If the investment in a new commercial enterprise is made in a targeted employment area, the required investment is decreased to $500,000. A targeted employment area is either a “high unemployment area” that has experienced an unemployment rate of at least 150 percent of the national average rate or a “rural area”.
Applicants to the EB-5 visa program must demonstrate that they meet all requirements of the program prior to filing with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). If it is determined that the investment criteria is met and properly documented, an investor may be granted conditional permanent residence status for a period of two years. At the end of the conditional period a permanent green card may be issued. An investor may apply for U.S. citizenship five years after the initial grant of conditional permanent residence.
The EB-5 Visa Program is a Federal Government Program
The EB-5 visa program is administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and is therefore governed by federal laws and regulations. It is not a program administered by a state agency, and is therefore not governed by Michigan state law.
For more detailed information about the EB-5 visa program, its laws and administration please visit www.uscis.gov.
State Involvement in the EB-5 Investment and Visa Program
Although the EB-5 program technically falls under the purview of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the State of Michigan does play a role in the identification and designation of targeted employment areas (TEAs) based upon high unemployment rates. Upon the request of the applicant, the State of Michigan may determine that a specific metropolitan statistical area, a county within a metropolitan statistical area, or a county in which a city or town with a population of 20,000 or more is located, is a targeted employment area (TEA). In order to make such a determination, the county, city or census tract in question must experience an average unemployment rate of 150 percent of the national average.
