If you are planning to immigrate to the US through EB 5 program and looking for a targeted employment area (TEA), this post will help you. Here, you will find complete details about the types of TEAs and the qualifications of each. If you do not have any idea about a TEA, then simply read on and find out why it is important when going through the EB 5 visa program.
What is a Targeted Employment Area, and Why Does it Matter?
Targeted employment area is highly important because they meet two things. First, they help foreign investors to begin with their EB 5 visa program journey with $900,000 than $1,800,000 dollars. Next, it helps the economy of targeted employment areas by creating jobs as well as tax revenue that these areas would not generally generate on their own.
In the present era, there are so many investors willing to immigrate to the United States via the EB-5 visa program by investing $1,800,000 dollars.
But, they can immigrate to the United States through the (EB 5 immigrant investor program) with an investment of $900,000 dollars. The main reason why investors are able to do this is that the project is located within a targeted employment area or TEA.
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services or USCIS recognizes two types of TEAs, including high unemployment areas and rural areas. Each of them comes with a set of qualifications. Let’s check out such qualifications here:
High Unemployment Areas
When it comes to qualifying a high unemployment area, the Regional Center must prove that:
The project should be in a metropolitan statistical area The area should be experiencing an unemployment rate – 150% higher than the national averageMetropolitan statistical areas are known as regions of the United States with a dense population at its center. The economy of metropolitan statistical areas generally depends on the businesses located within it. New York City in New York and Philadelphia in Pennsylvania are the two most common examples of metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). The United States Office of Management and Budget designated what is or is not involved in metropolitan statistical areas.
The next factor that should be considered is if the unemployment rate of the desired investment area is 150% of the national average. For instance, the Bureau of Labor Statistics lists the national unemployment average as 4% of June 2018. Hence, the high employment area should include an average unemployment rate of 6% to be considered a targeted employment area.
Rural Areas
Rural areas are targeted employment areas that are located within a metropolitan statistical area, and the recent decennial census defines the population is less than 20,000. This means that your Regional Center project is not located inside a large city, and it does not have a population of more than 20,000 people.
Today, there are a number of websites that can help you determine if a regional center project is in a TEA. It is highly essential to note that your Regional Center will provide you with all the details of the project, including if the project is located in a TEA or not. A reliable company will assist you with all your needs related to TEA, regional center, EB 5 visa program, EB 5 investment, and beyond.