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World Trade Center Awaits Homeland Security Approval of Immigrant Investment Designation
West Palm Beach -- The World Trade Center of Palm Beach announced today its official applicant status for Homeland Security’s approval to designate Palm Beach County and parts of the Treasure Coast as a Foreign Investment Region, which when approved, will mean pre-screened foreign investors will be permitted to receive conditional resident status also known as a “Green Card”, in exchange for direct financial investment in job and economic growth opportunities.
Congress created the employment-based fifth preference (EB-5) immigrant visa category in 1990 for immigrants who invest in companies that benefit the U.S. economy. Each investment must create or save at least 10 full-time jobs for U.S. workers. The basic amount required to invest is $1 million, although that amount is reduced to $500,000 if the investment is made in a high unemployment area or rural region, such as being applied for in the Palm Beach and Treasure Coast region. To stimulate interest in the EB-5 program, in 1992 Congress enacted an EB-5 regional center pilot program. The pilot program allows public and private entities, such as the World Trade Center of Palm Beach, to apply to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for regional center status.
“For communities such as the Glades area, Riviera Beach, Indiantown, etc., that have redevelopment or revitalizations plans lacking the coveted private investment capital to make it happen, the EB-5 investment instrument becomes extremely attractive and accessible as their financial catalyst,” said Al Zucaro, Chairman of the World Trade Center Palm Beach. Zucaro, on behalf of Palm Beach County, recently returned from Brazil as part of Florida’s Trade Mission led by Governor Charlie Crist, where he was asked to report on foreign investment opportunities in Florida such as the EB-5 Visa program. Federal law allows up to 10,000 foreign investors a year to qualify under the EB-5 program. If fully used, that would result in a minimum of 100,000 new jobs a year for U.S. workers, and an infusion of $5-10 billion annually into our economy. Over a dozen EB-5 regional centers are currently active: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Seattle, Washington; the San Joaquin Valley in California; eastern Washington state; Las Vegas, Nevada; Vermont; Hawaii; rural farming areas in South Dakota and Iowa; the District of Columbia; Bellingham, Washington; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Houston, Texas; southwestern Kansas; western Texas.; and western Pennsylvania. Regional center applications are pending for Silver Spring, Maryland and Los Angeles, California.
The EB-5 regional center pilot program applied for by the World Trade Center Palm Beach will be the first and only regional center designation in the State of Florida and the Southeast portion of the United States.
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