A capital investment of $900,000 or $1.8 million is required to be made by theEB-5
visa applicants into a U.S. commercial enterprise. The EB-5 investment can be taken
in the form of cash, inventory, equipment, secured indebtedness, tangible property,
or cash equivalents which is valuated based on U.S. dollar fair-market value.
If the investment is made in a commercial entity that is located in a targeted employment
area (TEA), the minimum amount of capital required for the EB-5 visa program may
have decreased from $1.8 million to $900,000. To qualify for TEA designation, the
EB-5 project must either be in a rural area or in an area that has high unemployment.
A geographic location with an unemployment rate that is at least 150 percent of
the national unemployment rate at the time of the EB-5 investment qualifies for
a high unemployment area. Geographic regions that are outside of a city with a population
of 20,000 or more are the rural areas. Rural areas can also be geographic regions
that are outside of what the U.S. Office of Management and Budget has designated
as metropolitan statistical areas.