Decision-making Process
Steps before investing
Costs
Timescale
Agents
Introductions
Steps before investing:
1. In order to receive a prospectus for an American Life EB-5 investment, it is an FSA (Financial Services Authority) requirement that you qualify as an eligible investor. You may certify on this website. To view the Certification forms along with explanatory notes, please click here.
2. Contact Richard Robinson in London on (020) 7408 9450 to discuss Certification or any other questions you may have or to arrange a meeting. Meetings are informal question and answer discussions where you can discover more about the company's properties as well as information on the EB-5 and other visa categories. Meetings are free of charge.
3. Treat this as you would any other significant investment. Seek professional investment advice.
4. Review our list of frequently asked questions.
5. Talk to other EB-5 visa applicants who have secured green cards and read our Client Testimonials. Contact details may be requested or will be available when we meet.
6. Consider a trip to Seattle to visit the Regional Center, see the properties and meet our tenants and staff.
7. Your visa application may not be submitted until your investment is fully funded. If you wish to emigrate as soon as possible, fund the $525,000 to enable your green card visa petition to be prepared and submitted. If you wish to secure your place as an EB-5 investor in a specific property you may do so with a deposit of $50,000. This will secure your place for up to 90 days, by which time you must fund the balance.
Costs
Please be aware of all the costs:
- In addition to the minimum capital contribution of $500,000, American Life requires a fee of $25,000.
- The agency fee to Taroa Investment Company is $10,000, due upon the investment being made. The AmLife and the Taroa fees are shown as a combined figure in our sales brochure.
- Legal fees vary according to the work involved but are unlikely to exceed $15,000.
- The EB5 visa filing fee, payable to the USCIS, is $1,435 per applicant family.
- The fee to the NVC (National Visa Center) is $380 per family member.
- Medical examinations are $145 for each adult and $125 for children under 15.
The total fees for a family of two adults and a child under 15 will total approximately $53,000.
Timescale
The green card. After you have invested and your attorney has submitted your visa application, EB5 visa processing takes approximately 6 months. Processing times vary and we advise that, for planning important issues such as children’s schooling, it is best to allow 9-12 months between visa application and the issue of your green card. This green card is 'conditional', see Permanent Residency below.
Permanent residency. Once you have emigrated, you must apply to have ‘conditions’ removed from your green card after 1 year and 9 months in the USA. Processing takes up to six months. ‘Conditions’ removal means that all family members have permanent residency and your visa is no longer tied to your investment.
The investment. The minimum period for an American Life EB-5 investment is approximately three years. This is the time between making the investment and 'conditions' removal (permanent residency). Once conditions are removed you are free to sell your investment if you wish.
Citizenship. EB-5 visa investors who have held a green card for 5 years are eligible to apply for US citizenship.
Agents
We have numerous professional organisations who introduce their clients as prospective immigrant investors and they receive a commission. Our agents are typically immigration lawyers from all over the world as well as immigration consultants. American Life and Taroa Investment Company do not accept introductions from, or pay commissions to, 'independent advisers' who claim to provide guidance on the best Regional Centers unless they are licensed to provide investment advice by the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission in the US) or the FSA (Financial Services Authority, if based in the UK).
Taroa Investment Company and American Life, Inc. comply with the FSA by producing investment documentation in the UK in accordance with the UK Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, as well as meeting the requirements of the SEC in the USA. As such, both companies adhere to all appropriate financial regulations and only accept introductions from properly regulated organisations.
We encourage all our investors to seek professional investment advice before making any investment.
Introductions
American Life has attracted hundreds of immigrant investors over a fourteen year span. Many have been kind enough to recommend us to people looking for a green card. Taroa will pay a commission for introductions by previous investors when they result in an investment and visa petition approval.
