What the EB-5 program is

The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program is a U.S. federal program that allows foreign nationals to obtain lawful permanent residence - a green card - by making a qualifying investment in a U.S. business that creates jobs for American workers. Created by Congress in 1990 and significantly overhauled by the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, it is one of the few routes to a green card that does not depend on an employer sponsor or a family relationship.

A qualifying investor, along with their spouse and unmarried children under 21, can receive permanent residence through a single qualifying investment. The trade is straightforward in principle: the investor commits a substantial amount of their own capital to a U.S. enterprise that creates American jobs, and accepts that the capital is genuinely at risk. The number of EB-5 visas issued each year is capped, and the 2022 reforms set aside a share of them for certain project types.

For international families drawn to South Florida, EB-5 is often the first thing they ask us about - usually some version of "If I buy a home in Miami, can I get residency?" The honest answer is more nuanced than most people expect. Because EB-5 sits where immigration law meets securities law, it is not a do-it-yourself process; qualified professionals are essential on both sides.

How much you have to invest

There are two investment tiers. The standard minimum is $1,050,000. It drops to $800,000 if the investment is made in a Targeted Employment Area (TEA) - defined as a rural area, an area of high unemployment (at least 150% of the national average), or a qualifying infrastructure project. Most investors aim for the $800,000 TEA tier.

The capital must be the investor's own and lawfully obtained, and the source of every dollar must be documented in detail - the sale of a business, salary and savings, a property sale, an inheritance, or a gift. The investment must also be genuinely "at risk": there can be no guaranteed return and no promised buyback.

These dollar figures were set by the 2022 law and are scheduled for their first inflation adjustment on January 1, 2027, so the current amount should always be confirmed before committing.

The job-creation requirement

Each investor's capital must create - or, in limited circumstances, preserve - at least 10 full-time jobs for qualifying U.S. workers, and those jobs generally must be sustained.

The program distinguishes between two kinds of jobs:

• Direct jobs - actual employees on a payroll.
• Indirect and induced jobs - employment generated in the wider economy by the project, measured through accepted economic modeling.

Indirect jobs can only be counted by investments made through a regional center, which is one of the main reasons the pathway you choose matters.

Regional center vs. direct investment

There are two ways to invest.

A regional center is a USCIS-designated entity that pools capital from many EB-5 investors into a larger project. Regional centers can count indirect and induced jobs, the investor's role is generally passive, and the great majority of EB-5 investment today flows through them. The 2022 reform reauthorized the Regional Center Program through September 30, 2027.

A direct investment means the investor puts capital into - and is actively involved in running - their own new commercial enterprise, and must demonstrate 10 direct payroll jobs. It offers more control but carries real operational responsibility.

The immigrant petition differs by pathway: regional center investors file Form I-526E, while direct investors file Form I-526. It is important to understand that choosing a regional center project is also a securities investment. The project, the developer's track record, and the job-creation model all need genuine due diligence, and that work should be done with advisors who specialize in EB-5.

The petition process, step by step

In broad strokes, the path runs like this:

1. The investor makes - or irrevocably commits - the qualifying investment into the chosen enterprise.
2. They file the immigrant petition (Form I-526E or I-526) with USCIS, supported by extensive evidence of the lawful source of funds.
3. On approval, an investor abroad goes through consular processing for an immigrant visa. An investor already in the U.S. in a valid nonimmigrant status may, under the 2022 reforms, file Form I-485 to adjust status - in many cases concurrently with the I-526E - which can allow the family to live and work in the U.S. while the case is pending.
4. The family receives conditional permanent residence - a green card valid for two years.
5. In the 90 days before that two-year mark, the investor files Form I-829 to remove the conditions, showing the investment was sustained and the jobs were created.
6. Once approved, the conditions are removed and the green cards become permanent; the family may later choose to apply for U.S. citizenship.

Processing times vary and can be lengthy, and applicants from some countries may face visa backlogs - though the reform's reserved set-aside categories were created in part to ease that. Current timelines should come from an immigration attorney.

How EB-5 connects to Miami real estate

This is the part worth being direct about: buying a house or condo to live in does not qualify for EB-5. A personal residence creates no jobs and is not a job-creating commercial enterprise. There is no "buy property, get a green card" route in U.S. law, and any marketing that suggests otherwise should be treated as a red flag.

Where real estate genuinely intersects with EB-5 is on the development side. Many regional center projects are real estate developments - hotels, resorts, multifamily and mixed-use construction - precisely because building and operating them generates the construction and operational jobs EB-5 requires. A great deal of EB-5 capital flows into real estate; it simply flows into development projects, not personal homes.

In practice, the two things happen side by side. Families pursuing EB-5 very often also buy a home in Miami to live in - and that home purchase is an ordinary real estate transaction, entirely separate from the visa investment. That is where Real Hodge Group's role begins, but it doesn't end there. While we are not immigration attorneys or securities advisors ourselves, we can introduce you to a network built for exactly this kind of client: a local investment firm that arranges qualifying EB-5 projects, the immigration attorneys and accountants who handle the applications and tax planning, and currency-exchange specialists for moving funds internationally. We make the introductions and keep the real estate side moving in step with the rest, so the pieces aren't handled in isolation.

Moving funds across borders

An EB-5 investment and a home purchase together can mean transferring well over a million dollars into the United States - and at that scale, the exchange rate matters more than most people realize. The gap between a competitive rate and the one a retail bank quietly applies can run to tens of thousands of dollars on a transfer this size, on top of transfer fees.

For international clients, Real Hodge Group works with Money Corp, a currency-exchange specialist, to move funds at competitive rates and with proper documentation - which also helps keep the lawful-source-of-funds paper trail clean for your EB-5 petition.

A real-world example: an $800,000 regional center investment

Consider a composite example. A family living abroad wants to relocate to Miami. They engage an experienced immigration attorney and, with EB-5 advisors, select a USCIS-designated regional center project - say, a hotel development located in a designated Targeted Employment Area. They invest $800,000, plus the program's administrative fees, and document that the funds came from the lawful sale of a company back home, using a currency specialist to move the capital into the U.S. at a competitive rate. They file Form I-526E. The project's construction and operations are projected, through accepted economic modeling, to create well more than the 10 jobs attributable to their investment.

After approval and immigrant visa issuance - or adjustment of status if they were already in the U.S. - the family receives two-year conditional green cards. Separately, as an ordinary transaction with no bearing on the visa, they purchase a $1.2M home in Coral Gables to live in, with Real Hodge Group representing them on that purchase. Two years later they file Form I-829, demonstrate that the jobs were created and the capital sustained, and the conditions on their residence are removed.

The figures and project specifics here are illustrative - every case is different.

Working with Real Hodge Group on your move

If your family is exploring the EB-5 path, Real Hodge Group can do more than help you find a home. We can connect you with the people who handle the rest - a local investment firm for the qualifying EB-5 project, experienced immigration attorneys and accountants, and currency-exchange specialists - and keep your South Florida home search moving in step with the visa process.

The aim is one coordinated team rather than four disconnected ones. Contact Real Hodge Group to start the conversation.