EB5 Rural Area

[shivgarg]

I want to take EB5 route for permanent immigration. I dont want to invest in Regional Center project. I would like to start a company on my own investment of 500K. I have following questions:

- As far as I understand, I am allowed to invest 500k as compare to 1 million if the area where I am opening the company or investing is either a Rural Area or has suffered unemployment 50% more than national average, Hence question is:

- Area defined in this is a city, County or a Zip code?

- What define a area is a Rural Area?

- Where I can find which area suffered more unemployment which 50% more than national average?

- I already have an Inc established in NY city with me and my wife as partner, but we dont work for it. Can we utilize the same company or we can sell off this company or close this company and take out our investment and profit and use that capital to open another company. Pl advice

Thanks

[Attorney_23]

A rural area is defined as “any area other than an area within a metropolitan statistical area or within the outer boundary of any city or town having a population of 20,000 or more (based on the most recent decennial census).” Ordinarily, to determine whether an area meets the requirements for being a Targeted Employment Area (i.e. High Unemployment or Rural Area) the foreign national investor can rely on official data provided by the state government.

With reference to using an existing company or funds obtained by selling off the existing company, this issue can become rather complicated and is very fact-specific. In fact, the entire EB-5 program is full of many legal pitfalls. I highly recommend you consult with an experienced attorney who can help guide you through the process and answer your questions.