Overseas Investors: EB-5 Applicants Investing in US Charter Schools to receive Green Cards

Charter schools in the USA have been experiencing a period of uncertainty, with officials across the country closing them due to poor performance. This has sparked concern by financial analysts, who predict an unstable future, and has presented difficulty in allowing start up schools to receive financing.

The answer: foreign investment

An invaluable source of capital has emerged in the form of foreign investment through the EB-5 program. High net worth individuals across the globe – from China, Nigeria, to Russia and Australia, are investing millions of dollars into US charter schools through an investment program called the EB-5, which is designed to assist developing US businesses, and in return provides non-US individuals with green cards for their capital contribution.

Specific projects

Classrooms, sports arenas, libraries and science labs are currently being built for American charter schools across the USA, in fact in Florida, business development officials say investment is set to triple in 2013, to $90 million.

Funds are being injected into the Health Sciences charter school in Buffalo, New York, to renovate a 19th century orphanage into an educational facility, whilst in Arizona, EB-5 investors expect to finance an extra campus for a series of American Leadership Academy charter schools.

Previous EB-5 programs

Over the past twenty years, many of the investment areas for the EB-5 program, or businesses known as ‘Regional Centres’, have been within the commercial real-estate sector with projects funding hotels, ski resorts, apartments and industrial infrastructure.

New EB-5 opportunities

This is set to change, however: with charter schools requiring substantial funds to develop, this is a prime opportunity to match-make overseas investors with a program which will benefit both parties. Investors can positively contribute to a turbulent market segment receiving little to no public funding to build their facilities, and they are in turn awarded a Green Card, positioned on a direct route to US citizenship for themselves and their immediate family members.