Foreigner? Want a Green Card? Invest in Everett!

Foreign investment is welcome in Everett

The city of Everett today announced the expansion of the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program within the City of Everett and into Snohomish County. The city of Everett has had a small regional center in north central Everett for the past three years but on August 8th a second larger regional center was added that expands the available area for investments. It ranges to the Everett City limits on the north, Mukilteo to the west, Mill Creek to the south and the Snohomish river to the east. Click here to see a complete map. Basically, the designation allows foreign investors to provide capital money for business owners to access for projects to be built within this new regional center. Lanie McMullin, Everett’s economic development coordinator, tells me its been extremely difficult for investors to get loans to start projects that they’ve wanted to build in Everett. She says this type of investment capital is being used for such projects as the new Marriott Hotel slated for downtown Everett. McMullin added that the capital investments are tied directly to job creation and there are a wide range of industries that can take advantage of the program including aerospace production and manufacturing, commercial offices, colleges, hotels, retail and restaurants, scientific research, construction of buildings plus medical and botanical manufacturing. As an example, a european aerospace company who would like to be close to a trained, experienced workforce, would now be able to use the EB-5 program to locate in South Everett.

Locally, the program is being promoted by Path America, who lists Potala Village apartments at Rucker and Pacific and the new farmer’s market proposed for Grand Avenue as projects in progress on their website. Path America President Lobsang Dargey says his company’s goal is to bring at least 3000 jobs to the area over the next three years. As far as the green cards, here’s an overview from the Path America website:

“One of the employment based Green Card options is to invest in a commercial enterprise in the United States that helps the economy by creating new jobs. EB-5 is the fifth employment based visa category for immigrant investors who wish to invest in a new commercial enterprise that will benefit the U.S. economy by generating at least 10 full-time jobs through an investment of either $1,000,000 or $500,000 (if invested in a targeted high unemployment area).

There are many advantages to the EB-5 investor visa program that have made this category a good option for many seeking to become permanent U.S. residents.

EB-5 Regional Center Advantages

◦Fast-track Green Card status is available for EB-5 Regional Center cases. This can result in Green Card approval in as little as a year.

◦Day-to-day management of an active business is not required for a Regional Center EB-5 case. An EB-5 investor can have a limited role in the management of the business as a limited partner.

◦There is no requirement to live in the area where the investment is made in Regional Center EB-5 cases. This means you can live, work or go to school anywhere in the United States while your application is being processed.

◦If the investment is made through a Regional Center program, the investment can generate either 10 direct or indirect full-time jobs.

◦The foreign national is not required to work in the U.S. and, should he or she decide to work, is able to work anywhere she chooses.

◦The investor’s children can be educated in the U.S. and receive in-state tuition benefits.

◦It is often the only permanent residence option for a retiree.”

Dargey credits the City of Everett, Congressman Rick Larsen and Senator Maria Cantwell as being hugely instrumental in helping gain approval for the expanded regional center.

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