Gateway Georgia Regional Center, LLC (“Gateway Georgia”) was formed for the purpose of assisting foreign investors obtain residency and citizenship in the United States through the EB-5 Regional Center program established in 1992. Gateway Georgia applied for, and received, a Regional Center designation from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) in 2014.
In 1990, the US Congress created the fifth employment-based preference immigrant visa category. It applies in situations where qualified foreigners seeking to invest in a business, create or save at least 10 full-time jobs for U.S. workers. It is legislated through Section 203(b)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The standard investment amount is US$1 million. However, in certain rural or high unemployment areas, known as a “Targeted Employment Area (TEA)”, the investment standard is reduced to US$ 500,000.
In order to spur foreign investment in the US though the EB-5 category, in 1992 the US Congress tested a program dubbed the “EB-5 Regional Center Pilot Program”. This program gave authority to the U.S. federal immigration agency, “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)”, to designate “EB-5 Regional Centers”. An EB-5 Regional Centers is a private enterprise/corporation or regional governmental agency with a targeted investment program within a defined geographic region. An EB-5 Regional Center is deemed qualified to accept EB-5 capital for economic development in the United States by the USCIS.
Every year, a total of 10,000 EB-5 green cards are available to qualified individuals. 3,000 of these cards are reserved for foreign nationals who invest though an EB-5 Regional Center. The 3,000 cards are not the limit, just an amount reserved specifically for EB-5 Regional Center based investments. The USCIS estimates that approximately 90%+ of the B-5 visas are based on EB-5 Regional Center Investments
An advantage of working with an EB-5 Regional Center program, is that allows the investor to benefit by counting direct AND indirect jobs created as a result of investment. The EB-5 Regional Center investment program aids foreign invests by directly and professionally managing their investment in the designated business and geographic focus of the EB-5 Regional Center.