FAQs & Glossary
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
A green card is proof of US Permanent Resident Status. A Green Card holder can live, work, and retire anywhere in the US.
The EB-5 Program allows eligible non-US persons to obtain a Green Card for themselves and their families through job-creating investments in the US. In general, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will issue green cards to eligible non-US persons who invest at least USD $1,000,000 and create 10 jobs in the US. This money may be invested directly in a business to be run by the applicant, or individually through a regional center which can help avoid the need for direct involvement in the business. In addition, certain regions of the US, called TEAs, are eligible for a lower investment of USD $500,000. Our investments will qualify for the lower USD $500,000 threshold.
A regional center is a US-government approved company which is entitled to make EB-5 investments in a designated geographical area. EB-5 investments do not need to be made through a regional center, but investments made through regional centers are allowed to count additional jobs, which make it more certain that the necessary 10 jobs are created for each investor. Our regional center will be focused on Southeast Louisiana, between the major cities of New Orleans and Baton Rouge, the state capital.
No. You may live, work, and retire anywhere in the United States. In fact, you do not even have to visit Southeast Louisiana to receive your green card (though, of course, we encourage you to visit Louisiana, with its unique culture and great culinary tradition). You can live, work, and/or retire anywhere in the U.S., regardless of the location of your investment.
No. The EB-5 program does not have a language requirement, and you may participate without speaking English. However, we would advise that you retain English-speaking counsel, and both we and USCIS require that all documents pertaining to your application be translated into English.
No. The EB-5 program does not require that applicants have any particular education level, skills, or business experience. In addition, the passive nature of the EB-5 investment means that the liability of all applicants, even those without business experience, is protected through our limited partnership arrangement.
Investing through a regional center such as ours, as opposed to investing directly in a company, allows you to avoid playing a direct role in the day-to-day management of the company. Additionally, a regional center can count direct, indirect, and induced jobs, making it easier for us to ensure that the 10 jobs necessary for green card issuance have been created. Finally, our regional center takes care of providing evidence that these jobs have been created, making the investment truly passive.
Please see the Investment Timeline for more information on the investment process, and Contact Us to begin the investment process!
Yes, the green card can be issued to the applicant, as well as his or her spouse and children under 21 as a result of a single investment. Older children who wish to obtain a green card must make their own applications and investments; alternatively, a family can gift an investment to a child over the age of 21.
A Conditional Green Card is a Green Card which is initially issued to successful I-526 applicants. It carries with it all of the rights of a Green Card, but is only valid for 2 years. During this time, investors must prove that ten (10) jobs have been created through their investment. CARC will provide its investors with the proof that they need to demonstrate that the ten (10) jobs have been created within this timeframe, and investors will submit this proof, along with an I-829 form, to USCIS in order to have the conditions removed and to make the Green Card permanent.
Under USCIS rules, each investors’ investment must be ‘at-risk’. Therefore, any guarantee of the return of the investment, or of a specific financial return on the investment, is prohibited. (In fact, any regional center which provides guarantees of this nature places its investors’ applications at serious risk of rejection by USCIS). However, we intend to redeem the interests of our investors after a period of about five (5) years.
Once you receive your conditional green card, you must wait five (5) years to apply for full US citizenship. Therefore, once you apply to remove the conditions attached to your conditional green card, you must wait only three (3) more years before you may apply for full US citizenship.
The green card is issued to evidence permanent resident status. The holder must live in the US at least six months a year to have that year count towards the five-year residency requirement of qualifying for US citizenship.
Green card holders may travel freely outside of the United States for less than six months out of the year. If you wish to travel abroad for more than six months out of a given year, applications for a travel permit may be made to USCIS, and up to three (3) may be granted. However, any time spent outside of the US may be counted against the applicant’s 30-month physical residence requirement to obtain full U.S. citizenship.
For more information about the program, our regional center, our projects, and how you can participate, please fill in the form on the Contact Us section of the site.
Glossary
EB-5 regulations require that an Immigrant Investor’s funds be “at risk”, meaning that a regional center is not permitted under law to guarantee the return of invested funds, or a specific financial rate of return. As a result, we must ensure that participants are sophisticated and/or financially accredited.
Continental Americas Regional Center, LLC. That’s us!
A conditional permanent resident (or, someone who holds a conditional green card) is an alien who has lawfully been admitted for permanent residence, but whose permanent resident status is dependent on providing evidence to USCIS that the job-creation requirement of the EB-5 program has been met. This status can be removed by filing an I-829 form, which is filed by an investor 90 days prior to the second anniversary of the approval of their I-526. It is important to note that the period during which one is considered a conditional permanent resident counts towards the five year requirement for full U.S. citizenship therefore, including this period, an immigrant investor need only wait three more years to apply for full citizenship.
an investor is required to demonstrate that he or she is a financially accredited investor in order to make an investment with CARC. Among other guidelines, this requires that investors demonstrate either that:
- The investor’s individual or joint (with a spouse) net worth is in excess of USD $1,000,000
- OR, the investor’s individual income was in excess of USD $200,000 for each of the two most recent years, and has a reasonable expectation of maintaining that level of income in the current year
- OR, the investor’s joint income (income with a spouse) is in excess of USD $300,000 for each of the two most recent years, and has a reasonable expectation of maintaining that level of income in the current year
A green card (also referred to as an unconditional green card) is a card issued to those who have applied for and received U.S. Government approval to become permanent U.S. residents, allowing them to live, work and retire in the U.S.
These are the two standard forms required by USCIS during the EB-5 application process. The I-526, known as the Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur, is submitted along with investors’ initial applications to begin the EB-5 process. Once this is approved by USCIS, investors will receive their conditional permanent residency status (known as a conditional green card). Twenty-one (21) months after the approval of an I-526, investors seeking to remove the conditions from their permanent residency status should submit an I-829, known as a Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove Conditions. Five (5) years after the approval of the I-526, investors who maintain permanent residence status are entitled to apply for US citizenship.
A participant in the EB-5 program is known as an Immigrant Investor.
A Qualified Investor whose subscription agreement, private offering documents, and required funds have been received and approved by us becomes a limited partner in our projects, meaning that he or she may utilize the job creation produced by our regional center as evidence for his or her application for a green card.
A person is considered a non-U.S. person if he or she is not a U.S. citizen, permanent resident, or political asylee in the United States.
The set of legal documents (including a Private Placement Memorandum, Subscription Agreement, Escrow Agreement, and others) which investors must complete and CARC must accept in order to participate in the EB-5 Program.
A Qualified Investor is one who has demonstrated to us that he or she is both a non-US person and an accredited investor in accordance with pertinent US securities laws and regulations.
A regional center is defined as any economic unit, public or private, which is involved with the promotion of economic growth, improved regional productivity, job creation, and increased domestic capital investment within a particular geographical area. Investing with a regional center such as ours can eliminate the day-to-day management requirement of the typical EB-5 investment, and can make it easier to ensure that the necessary jobs have been created to permit the issuance of a green card.
A Targeted Employment Area, or TEA, is an area in the US in which EB-5 investors may invest only USD $500,000 to receive their green card, rather than the typical USD $1,000,000. To be declared a TEA, an area must be shown to have an unemployment rate of at least 150% of the national average.
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, the US government agency responsible for overseeing the green card issuance process.
