For many investors looking to gain foreign residency, the USA is a popular choice, with few language/cultural barriers and many benefits. Astons’ expert and knowledgeable team can advise you on the best and speediest way to obtain US residency.

Benefits of USA Residency

  • The right to permanently live, work and study in the country
  • Visa-free travel to more than 170 countries, including Canada and Mexico
  • Eligibility for US Citizenship after 5 years of holding a Green Card

How Can I Get US Residency?

  • One of the fastest ways to gain Green Card status (permanent residency) in the USA is through the EB-5 visa program, providing a fast-track route with Green Card status being granted usually within 12 months.  The program requires a minimum investment of $900,000 into government-approved projects with the ability to release the investment in the future, offering full permanent residency. The visa covers the applicant’s spouse and any unmarried children under 21.
  • A second way to obtain residency is through family sponsorship where a family member living and working in the USA as a citizen or permanent resident can sponsor their relative for a Green Card.
  • Similarly, another route is by marriage to a US citizen.  The applicant has to have been married to the citizen for a minimum of 18 months.
  • Another common route to US residency is an employment-based Green Card application.  The USA has approximately 140,000 skills-related visas available each year and US employers can petition employees for residency.  People can also apply if they transfer to the USA from another branch of the same company or one that has a qualifying relationship with the US company.
  • Categories by which people can get residency by being classed as a Special Immigrant include: religious workers; juveniles who have experienced abuse or abandonment;  Afghan or Iraqi nationals who have helped the USA through their work; international broadcasters;  employees of (or retirees from) an eligible international organisation or NATO (or member of their family)
  • People may apply for residency if they: have been granted asylum or refugee status over a year previously;  are a victim of human trafficking or crime with a non-immigrant visa; a victim of abuse by a parent or spouse with US, Cuban or Haitian citizenship/residency; are Liberian nationals, resident since 2014; foreign diplomats unable to return home; Native Americans born in Canada; people from Indochina paroled into the US; Lautenberg parolees; Cuban natives or citizens; and if you have resided continuously in the USA since before 1 Jan. 1972.
  • An additional route is through the US Department of State Diversity Program which allows 50,000 randomly selected people each year to obtain the Green Card permanent residency status.  These people have to be from countries which do not commonly send immigrants to the USA.
  • People with student visas who are then granted a one-year work visa can apply for residency through their employment, though would have to prove that no American citizens wanted or could do that job.
  • Less common is having residency granted as a result of a notable achievement in a person’s field.

There are variations in the speed with which a Green Card is issued, depending on the type of application and the country the applicant is applying from;  a Green Card for an employment-based applicant might be issued within 8 months, while residency for someone from Asia under the marriage or family sponsorship options may well take years.

Astons’ team of international experts are available to give you current advice on the best way forward for obtaining residency by investment in the USA.

Contact us here.