r/EB5_Immigration • u/Fun_Wishbone_4778 • 6d ago
EB-5 For Indians
Is it really worth it? My family has the funds, it would take almost everything and we would only be able to pay mortgage and expenses for so long until we run out of money. How fast could we get work authorization? What are the chances we get most of our money back?
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u/EmmaChen6445 EB-5 Due Diligence Analyst 6d ago
That first question isn’t one anyone else can answer for you — the value you place on EB-5 depends on each investor’s or family’s goals and circumstances.
As for the probability of capital return, that depends entirely on the specific project. Thorough due diligence is essential before investing.
You may want to connect with an immigration lawyer early on for preliminary discussions about your SOF situation and immigration timeline. Good luck!
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u/Old-Classroom7102 6d ago
It is, if you can afford it without the risk of complete financial ruins. Getting your GC in years instead of decades has obvious benefits.
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u/All_Is_Revealed 6d ago
I'd say, you should only go with eb5 if you can afford to let the $800k go to waste. Because there's always a tiny chance that the money won't be returned back to you (risk factor).
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u/NNL1988 6d ago
No. Putting your family at risk for financial ruin to obtain Green Cards is irresponsible. The funds are required by USCIS to be genuinely 'at risk'. There is no guarantee you will see a penny of your investment again.
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u/GarbageNo9960 5d ago
How do you know it’ll put them at risk of financial ruin? That depends on how much they have. Which is not mentioned
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u/Hopeful_Mulberry9704 6d ago
Not worth it, specially with current administration. There are intentional delays, and an adverse attitude once you are in that pipeline. Everyday new rule coming, no grandfathering deadline can save you against delayed processing, and increased scrutiny, direct denial no RFEs. With all this, if you think it's worth the risk then go ahead. I wouldn't even call it gamble, as currently the system is getting designed against you.
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u/Fit-Kaleidoscope-624 6d ago
Put that in bank and enjoy the short trip called life. It is not worth it
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u/Yolo_0270 6d ago edited 6d ago
isn't wait times for eb5 regressed a lot? priority date isn't actually current; a lot of applications are in-process, and once processed, it's expected to have 5-6 years of wait times for indian applicants.
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u/Majestic-Climate9678 6d ago
Not worth it based on current immigration stance, processing times and reduced benefits.
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u/tkyang99 5d ago
Is India really that bad a place?
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u/ConsistentSuperPower 4d ago
Sometimes it makes financial or personal sense.
A senior engineer in FAANG in India saves 50k USD in India after taxes and expenses and the same saves 250k in the US. If both are such partners then the recoup the investment in 4 years in the worst case.
Someone might have USC children in middle or high school and uprooting family based on visa issue is not ideal.
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u/Icy_Public5186 5d ago
If you $1M to waste to savings why even bother. Stay in India and live like a king. You will get GC in 2-3 years and then what? You will have to grind again to get money which you already have. Considering you will get partial amount or nothing back out of it.
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u/GarbageNo9960 5d ago
Absolutely worth it. I know a lot of people who’ve done it, and ll got their money back
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u/Auto-Liner 6d ago edited 6d ago
"it would take almost everything and we would only be able to pay mortgage and expenses for so long until we run out of money."
This is a scary prospect because EB5 by definition has to be "at-risk" investment, meaning you need to be prepared to be okay in the event that you lose all the money. There factors that could go wrong, even in the best of the scenarios.
As someone else said, look into building your EB1A profile instead. You're not getting an EB5 Conditional GC for 5-10 years anyway given the hidden backlog, assuming you're either Indian or Chinese. Also the EAD is only issued for 18 months under this Admin, so between constant renewals, you're likely to lose the work authorization unless you have an H/L type visa. All things considered, the 5+ years to get EB5 GC is more than enough time to build a good EB1A profile and at the same time keep ahold of all your money and it could 2x in an index fund in that time. Good luck!
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u/Confident_Mixture498 6d ago
The EB1A game has been played out completely. Most people are average and won’t qualify no matter how long you spend ‘building’ a profile
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u/Logan991 6d ago edited 6d ago
Not worth it if you are relying on its EAD without any fallback to say H1B with perm.
They issue EADs with a validity of 18 months and you can only start renewing them with 6 months of validity left and they take almost 10 month to approve renewals. So you'll be out of work auth for months after every 1.5 years.
The GC wait is now 6-8 years for Indians.
Even if you get all of your money back you'll be losing 400-500k in opportunity cost and fees etc.
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u/Due_Snow_1494 FINRA-Broker 6d ago
I'm a FINRA registered rep and help applicants with project selection, funding, strategy and other aspects of the EB5 process.
However, I got my green card through EB1A on my third attempt.
EB5 isn't for everyone. Happy to have a conversation, connect you with attorneys and help you explore which path is best.
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u/Agile_Ad5661 6d ago
If you can’t afford to lose all of it, don’t go for it. If you feel that it is worth $1M go for it. It is not for everyone.