Fitial in an interview on Monday said EB-5 is the “biggest thing” that is happening in the federalization of the CNMI immigration system.
EB-5, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website, is the fifth employment-based visa preference category available to immigrants seeking to invest in the U.S. The investment must be a new commercial enterprise that will benefit the U.S. economy and create at least 10 full-time jobs.
Created by the U.S. Congress in 1990, the EB-5 visa has eligibility criteria which include an investment of at least $1 million.
But if the investment will do business in a jurisdiction defined by law as “a rural area or an area that has experienced high unemployment,” the minimum investment requirement will be reduced to $500,000.
A resident, who declined to be identified, said: “If a foreign investor has $500,000 or $1 million why would he invest in the CNMI? He would want to invest on Guam or in the states where the economy is much better compared to ours.”
Fitial said unlike the E-2 visa, which is only until 2014 and requires a $50,000 investment, the EB-5 visa can result to permanent residency and eventual U.S. citizenship.
“They can be in all kinds of businesses — real estate, gaming, even movie production,” he said.
Although he believes E2 visa is advantageous to CNMI, the commonwealth should also take advantage of the EB-5 visa, he added.
“That’s one thing good about federalization,” Fitial said.
According to the governor, he has been talking to a lot of potential investors who are “serious” about investing in the CNMI and are likely to meet the EB-5 criteria.
The governor said he is also working on the establishment of an EB-5 regional center in the CNMI
The regional center, according to the USCIS website, is any economic unit, public or private, which is involved with the promotion of economic growth, improved regional productivity, job creation, and increased domestic capital investment.
A regional center is an area designated by the USCIS as eligible to receive immigrant investor capital.
A regional center obtains its designation by submitting a detailed application to USCIS.
Fitial said having a regional center on Saipan will reduce the EB-5 investor requirement to $500,000.
