EB5 Immigrant Investor Visa and A1 Visas Compared

The fifth preference employment based visa (EB5) was created in 1990 as a way for foreign investors to gain United States permanent residency (and eventual citizenship if desired), through an investment of at least a half a million dollars (if certain requirements are met) in a new or pre-existing American business that sees the creation of at least 10 new full-time jobs for American workers. The A-1 is a visa for international diplomats which allows foreign officers and diplomats of permanent diplomatic missions or consular posts to come in to the United States for the purposes of engaging in activities which officially and directly relate to performing their duties. In this article we will take a closer look at the A-1 visa and the Eb5 Green Card visa to see how the two visa programs compare and contrast.

A-1 Diplomatic Visa – As per the government's website, to qualify for an A-1 or A-2 visa, you must be traveling to the United States on behalf of your national government to engage solely in official activities for that government. The fact that there may be government interest or control in a given organization is not in itself the defining factor in determining if you qualify for an A visa; the particular duties or services that will be performed must be governmental in character or nature, as determined by the United States Department of State, in accordance with U.S. immigration laws. Government officials traveling to the United States to perform non-governmental functions of a commercial nature, or traveling as tourists, require the appropriate visa, and do not qualify for A visas.

EB5 Immigrant Investor Visa – In stark contrast to the A-1 Visa, lies the Immigrant Investor Visa. According to the government's web page, to qualify for the EB5 Visa Program you must:

1)      Invest or be in the process of investing at least $1,000,000.  If your investment is in a designated targeted employment area (A Targeted Employment Area is defined by law as "a rural area or an area that has experienced high unemployment of at least 150 percent of the national average) then the minimum investment requirement is $500,000.

2)     Benefit the U.S. economy by providing goods or services to U.S. markets.

3)     Create full-time employment for at least 10 U.S. workers.  This includes U.S. citizens, Green Card holders (lawful permanent residents) and other individuals lawfully authorized to work in the U.S. (however it does not include you (the immigrant), or your spouse, sons or daughters).

4)     Be involved in the day-to-day management of the new business or directly manage it through formulating business policy – for example as a Limited Partner, corporate officer or board member.

We see in this comparison that the A-1 and EB5 immigrant investor visa are very different in nature. While the A-1 allows a foreign diplomat to enter the country for the purposes of performing job related activities, the EB5 visa relies on an immigrant's investment to create new full-time jobs for the American workforce and provides them with a clear path to a Green Card Visa.