Indian students are among the largest groups of international students enrolled in U.S. institutions, significantly contributing to the country’s academic and professional landscape. Many of these students aspire to build long-term careers and settle in the United States; however, transitioning to permanent residency can seem both daunting and distant, with significant roadblocks.
The conventional pathway often involves navigating lengthy and complex visa processes, such as transitioning from an F-1 student visa to an H-1B work visa, followed by years of waiting to obtain a Green Card. Due to overwhelming demand and limited availability of Green Cards per year, applicants in some of the popular employment-based Green Card categories face decades-long waiting periods—sometimes stretching beyond their lifetimes.
The H-1B program itself poses serious challenges for students looking for a work visa after completing their studies and Optional Practical Training (OPT). The program has a lottery-based selection process that makes obtaining an H-1B visa highly uncertain, leaving many talented students in limbo. Even those applicants who succeed in getting an H-1B visa have to face further hurdles, such as restrictions on job mobility and dependence on employer sponsorship for a legal visa status.
For students looking to escape the uncertainties of the H-1B visa program and a seemingly unending wait for permanent resident status, the EB-5 program presents a unique and faster alternative for transitioning to permanent residency. The EB-5 investor visa not only offers students a fast-track Green Card and the freedom to live, work, or study in the United States without any restrictions but also multiple other advantages, including financial benefits and a quick pathway to U.S. citizenship.
In this article, we will explore how Indian students on the F-1 visa can transition to an EB-5 visa and build a stable future for themselves as well as their family members in the United States.
EB-5 Visa Eligibility and Process
How F-1 Students Can Access Green Card Benefits Within Weeks
Other Advantages of the EB-5 Visa for International Students
Why Indian Students Must Apply for EB-5 Without Delay
Sourcing Funds for an EB-5 Investment
EB5AN Can Help You Transition to Permanent Residency
EB-5 Visa Eligibility and Process
The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program was established by Congress in 1990 to stimulate the U.S. economy through job creation and capital investment by foreign investors. The program allows investors and their dependents (the spouse and unmarried children under 21) to become eligible for permanent residency in exchange for a qualifying investment that creates at least 10 full-time jobs for U.S. workers.
To qualify for the EB-5 visa, applicants must make a minimum investment of $800,000 for projects located in designated rural areas or high-unemployment regions, known as targeted employment areas (TEAs). For non-TEA projects, the minimum standard investment is $1,050,000.
EB-5 applicants have two investment options: They can either invest directly into a new commercial enterprise (NCE) or indirectly through a government-approved EB-5 regional center. Regional centers are entities that pool investments from multiple investors into larger development projects. They aim to promote economic growth, improve regional productivity, and create jobs in targeted areas.
Most investors prefer the regional center investment route due to several advantages of this model, the most important being the ease of meeting the job creation requirements of the EB-5 program.
After selecting a project and making the required investment, investors must submit the EB-5 petition (Form I-526E) to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to demonstrate eligibility, including proof of the investment and job creation plan.
Once the petition is approved, the investor and their eligible family members can apply for a two-year conditional Green Card. To remove conditions on the Green Card, investors must file Form I-829 within 90 days of the conditional status expiration, providing evidence that the EB-5 program requirements were met.
Subsequently, after completing five years of permanent residency, EB-5 visa holders can apply for U.S. citizenship. As U.S. citizens, they can also petition for their parents to become Green Card holders. This way, the EB-5 program paves the way for entire families to immigrate to the United States.
How F-1 Students Can Access Green Card Benefits Within Weeks
For international students on an F-1 visa, an excellent provision called EB-5 concurrent filing enables them to access Green Card benefits soon after they file their EB-5 petition—even before it is approved.
Introduced under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 (RIA), concurrent filing allows EB-5 applicants already in the United States on a valid nonimmigrant visa to file their adjustment of status application (Form I-485) simultaneously with the I-526E petition.
Once the I-485 application is filed, students can continue to stay in the United States legally on a “pending adjustment” status while their application is processed. They also become eligible to apply for employment authorization (EAD) and advance parole (AP), which could be approved in as little as 30 days. This way, they can continue to live, study, work, and travel without any restrictions imposed by the F-1 visa while they wait for Green Card approval.
To give an example, here is Karthik’s story: a student investor from India who received work and travel permits within 60 days of applying and I-526E petition approval in only 12 months. With an EAD, AP, and I-526E approval, he does not need any employer sponsorship or a temporary visa to live and work in the United States and can focus entirely on his career.
Other Advantages of the EB-5 Visa for International Students
In addition to being a direct and relatively expedited path to permanent residency for applicants and their families, the EB-5 visa offers many other benefits to international students. With an EB-5 visa, they become eligible to work off-campus to support their education, have access to internships for professional experience, and enjoy complete flexibility in their career choices with far better employment opportunities.
Most importantly, with a domestic student status, they are eligible for much lower tuition rates and can access financial aid and scholarships to fund their education. They also have better chances of admission to the top educational institutions if they wish to study further.
As Green Card holders, international students also gain eligibility to access the U.S. healthcare system and a wider range of affordable and comprehensive insurance plans.
Why Indian Students Must Apply for EB-5 Without Delay
While all EB-5 applicants should consider applying as early as possible to avoid waiting for visa availability, it is especially crucial for Indian nationals in the United States to act fast as the window of opportunity is swiftly shrinking for them. This is because the provision of concurrent filing is available only to nationals of countries that do not face retrogression, i.e., do not have any visa backlogs.
For a long time, the unreserved EB-5 category has been significantly backlogged for India. Fortunately, the RIA introduced new set-aside reserved visa categories for investments in TEA projects, giving Indian applicants an opportunity to skip the long pre-RIA queues and also benefit from concurrent filing. However, due to high demand, it is anticipated that these categories may also become backlogged soon.
Per the latest visa bulletin, the reserved EB-5 categories are still “current” for all countries. However, in a clear indication of upcoming backlogs in these categories, the visa bulletin states that it may become necessary to establish cut-off dates in the set-aside categories to ensure that issuances do not exceed annual visa availability limits. This is a warning for EB-5 investors to act now and utilize the concurrent filing option for adjustment of status.
Once cut-off dates are established, applicants will have only a few weeks to file their application, qualify for concurrent filing, and obtain work and travel permits.
Data analysis of post-RIA EB-5 petition filings indicates that the high-unemployment TEA category will likely experience a much larger backlog, possibly much sooner than the rural TEA category, which has a smaller gap between visa demand and supply. Although both categories have good projects in the market, applicants must carefully weigh their options before investing.
Sourcing Funds for an EB-5 Investment
Managing funds for an EB-5 investment can be a significant challenge for international students, but it is achievable through careful planning and combining various funding sources.
Most international students will require financial support from family members to meet the EB-5 investment requirement. Parents or relatives can gift them the required funds, provided they meet the program’s source-of-funds documentation requirements.
Students may also liquidate assets like inherited property or investments to contribute to the EB-5 fund. In the case of inheritances, applicants must provide all the necessary documentation with adequate evidence showing how they inherited the assets.
Another option for students is to take loans from friends or private lenders. For secured loans, applicants must show proof that any personal assets used to secure the loan were legally sourced. It is also important that the loan contract is at market rates and has transparent repayment terms.
Indian students can also start their EB-5 journey with a partial investment, which can help them overcome the $250,000 overseas remittance limit per financial year set by the Reserve Bank of India.
For a successful EB-5 investment, applicants must seek professional guidance from a qualified EB-5 immigration attorney who can assist them in evaluating their funding options while ensuring compliance with USCIS documentation requirements. Particularly, the attorney must have significant experience working with Indian investors and understanding tax implications in India as well as the United States.
EB5AN Can Help You Transition to Permanent Residency
The EB-5 program offers Indian students one of the fastest and most dependable pathways to obtaining a U.S. Green Card, eliminating the uncertainties associated with other visa categories. With the EB-5 visa, students can focus on building their careers or pursuing further education without the stress of having to deal with visa restrictions.
The EB-5 process can be complex, and consulting with experienced EB-5 professionals is a crucial first step for applicants and their families for a smooth immigration journey.
EB5AN, a leading EB-5 firm, has helped more than 2,300 families from 70+ countries relocate to the United States as lawful permanent residents. Our expert team has over a decade of experience, and we offer our clients first-rate, low-risk EB-5 regional center projects with a 100% USCIS project approval rate to date.
To hear about the real-life success stories of our clients, check out our testimonials.
If you’d like to know more about transitioning to the EB-5 visa or need assistance with the process, feel free to book a one-on-one call with our team today.
