EB5 for Indian Nationals Investment Amount increase November 21, 2019

India's economy is booming and its Government is now aggressively competing with China for manufacturing jobs by reducing corporate tax rates to 22%. Increasing real estate values and stock market investments have made the EB5 investment visa option available to many Indian nationals from all parts of the country and from different sectors of society. Now, the rush is on for investors to select a Regional Center Investment to qualify for the $500,000 minimum investment needed for the EB5 visa before the amount increases to $900,000 on November 21, 2019. The EB5 visa remains the only effective means of obtaining permanent resident status for most Indian nationals because of visa retrogression in the employment and family  visa categories. H-1b and L-1 are non-immigrant visas and do not automatically convert to permanent resident status. Persons with H-1b status  who are fortunate to have been sponsored by employers for labor certification  and are approved for EB2 or EB3 visa categories may still  wait years for a permanent employment visa to become available. The uncertainty and risk of changes in employment or company structure have caused many H-1B holders as well as others to turn to the EB5 visa because of the relatively shorter time frame to obtain permanent resident status. The increase in interest may also lead to visa retrogression for Indian Nationals. Chinese investors are now facing visa quota waits which have been estimated to be longer than 10 years because of the country quota limitation. Time is of the essence to invest before the minimum investment amount increases and to avoid visa retrogression.