If you have considered getting your green card through investment, otherwise known as the eb5 visa, you have several decisions to make. One of them is whether you will choose to use the eb5 direct route by creating your own business, or if you will opt for a regional center instead. Learning the drawbacks of the direct pathway may help you decide.
Having a successful business is probably your dream. In fact, many people, both immigrants and U.S. citizens, would love to be their own boss. Making more than enough money to survive and saying you did it on your own can be a great aspect that can come from the green card through investment. On the other side of the coin is the possibility of failure, which exists with all businesses.
You might draw up a great business plan, but it could be possible that there is no need for a business like yours in this country. Or perhaps your idea is great, but you did not think it all the way through when writing your plan. If you do get the chance to form the business and it fails, you run the risk of losing your entire investment. Being penniless in another country is often not the best situation, which means you will likely return home, especially if your business never met all of the requirements for the green card through investment. While the experience could make you richer in life lessons, you will certainly be poorer financially.
Additionally, the hiring process might not run as smoothly as you would like. In a perfect world, you could hire your friends, who would make your business a success as well as fun to be at. However, friends and family are not always the best employees, and the people you do hire could turn out to be much less reliable than you thought at first. Though it can be rewarding to be the employer of great workers, it can be disappointing to be the boss of people who do not care about their job.
During the hiring process, you might also find that you can run your company well on only five employees. They could be very productive, and perhaps your business is thriving. However, it will not meet the requirements and you could be sent home if you do not hire at least ten fulltime employees. You need to account for this in your business plan, so your company must be large enough to require at least 400 hours of work per week total.
Like anything else, the direct method of the green card through investment has its drawbacks and benefits. You will have to weigh them both before making a decision. Then you can learn in-depth about the advantages and disadvantages of joining a regional center, instead.
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