Stuart Ferguson, founder and CEO of American Dream, will be participating in a joint webinar with EB5 Affiliate Network (EB5AN), a leading EB-5 consultancy and regional center network, to share his expertise. The webinar is scheduled for Thursday 4 March 2021 and will provide valuable information on the challenges EB-5 investors face with respect to of source-of-funds documentation. Given the complicated nature of bureaucracy and the different systems around the world, obtaining a country-specific information on EB-5 source-of-funds requirement can be invaluable. Please click here to register for the webinar, or to view a recording of the webinar.
As one of South Africa’s leading experts on the EB-5 immigrant investor visa, Stuart brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the panel. His firm has served numerous South African nationals who have successfully invested in American business enterprises for the purpose of obtaining permanent U.S. residency and citizenship.
In the webinar, Stuart will speak alongside Joey Barnett, a U.S.-based immigration lawyer, and Sam Silverman and Michael Schoenfeld, cofounders and managing partners of EB5AN. Together they will dive deep into the EB-5 source-of-funds requirements for South African EB-5 investors. The webinar will cover the precise requirements of the EB-5 program, typical sources of funds for investors, and the questions an investor should aim to answer with their documentation. The presentation breaks down the most common fund sources to determine what documents should be provided for each and explores country-specific issues and circumstances that EB-5 investors from South Africa should keep in mind as they work with immigration counsel to prepare an I-526 petition.
EB-5 Visa Investment Process for Foreign Nationals
Foreign nationals looking to start a new life in the United States can find a valuable opportunity in the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa, a residency-by-investment program established by the U.S. Congress in 1990. For more than 30 years, the program attracted millions of foreign capital into the U.S. economy and enabled tens of thousands of investors and their immediate family members to gain green cards and reap all the benefits that come with U.S. permanent resident status. Immigration is a complex matter, so the EB-5 program is necessarily complicated, but it is nonetheless viewed as one of the easiest and quickest means to U.S. immigration.
To make a successful EB-5 investment, an investor must fulfill several EB-5 requirements, including investing the minimum required amount—$1.8 million, or $900,000 if the project is located in a targeted employment area (TEA)—and effecting the creation of at least 10 full-time jobs for U.S. workers. Perhaps the most complicated requirement, however, is proving the lawful sources of one’s investment capital. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) requires investors to provide documentation showing how the capital was obtained legally, how the applicable taxes were paid, and how the money made its way into the designated EB-5 project account.
