Unlocking Education in the USA with the EB-5

For affluent international families looking towards the USA for their children’s education and future, considering their immigration rights is now more essential than ever. The world their children will inherit is marked by geopolitical tension, policy volatility, and student visa clampdowns. Within the USA, this includes the expansion of nationality-based travel bans affecting a growing number of countries, alongside additional screening and increasing challenges in securing internships and employment. Today’s parents are not just considering the undergraduate years, but well beyond.

Against this backdrop of increasing uncertainty, residence and citizenship planning has become an important element of the education roadmap as a multi-layered strategy for securing long-term mobility, safety, and opportunity. For aspiring international students, this also reflects a deeper structural reality.

Rising Competition in Global Education

Global demand for international education remains robust. New analysis predicts the number of globally mobile university students will grow to approximately 8.5 million by 2030, driven largely by demand from emerging economies. Yet the traditional ‘Big Four’ education hotspots — the USA, the UK, Australia, and Canada — are expected to lose market share over the next five years as visa tightening, fee increases, and immigration uncertainties push families to consider alternatives. This is already the case in the USA, where new international student enrolments dropped 17% in the fall 2025 semester, predominantly owing to visa restrictions and government policies.

At the same time as student mobility is increasing, competition is intensifying. At leading US institutions, international applicants often face acceptance rates that are notably lower than those of domestic students. For example, Harvard admits 2% of international students compared to the 4% overall acceptance rate.

Yet as competition rises, the barriers facing international students are hardening. In the USA, enrolment challenges are now compounded by broader entry restrictions that expand travel bans and limit visa issuance for nationals of numerous countries, including restrictions on F, M, and J student visas, which came into effect on 1 January 2026.

When a Student Visa Is No Longer Enough

As student visas lose their ability to function as a gateway to long-term opportunity, families are increasingly realizing that education access as a key benefit of immigration status — and securing the latter first.

The simple equation — degree + student visa = global opportunities — no longer balances. The USA has tightened post-study work rights, restricted pathways to permanent residence, and introduced new compliance burdens for international students. Furthermore, it is generally expected that the Optional Practical Training (OPT) route to work in the USA post-graduation will face changes. The UK has also set out plans to reduce work rights for international students who have completed their studies along with ramping up compliance thresholds.

For affluent parents seeking stability, predictability, and a secure return on educational investment for their children, such uncertainty is untenable, and having alternative residence options is now valued as an essential safety net.

For example, in the USA, where the US EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program is the most efficient route to permanent residence status for entrepreneurial families, green card holders face none of the constraints limiting international graduates: they are not bound by Optional Practical Training deadlines, H-1B lotteries, or sponsorship restrictions, giving them flexibility to join start-ups, switch employers, or launch their own ventures. In effect, EB-5 converts an international student into a domestic participant in the US education–labor ecosystem.

This pathway does more than address risk. It creates certainty. It allows families to plan boldly — not just for their child’s degree, but for their future independence and integration into society. In short, acquiring residence rights through participating in residence or citizenship programs amplifies the value of education by widening the opportunity horizon.

The Education–Domicile–Opportunity Dynamic

For families focused on the USA — and increasingly for those navigating global education pathways more broadly — long-term opportunity is increasingly determined by a far more consequential factor: where an individual is legally permitted to live and work. Education is increasingly globalized. Opportunity remains jurisdiction-bound.

The Henley Opportunity Index data reinforces what many wealthy, globally focused families already intuit: combining premium education with additional residence and citizenship rights, many of which are investment-based, creates significant opportunity for the next generation, growing their global networks, maximizing their career prospects, earning potential, and economic mobility for greater success and prosperity across their lifetimes.

While research shows that, on average across OECD countries, adults with tertiary education earn 54% more than those with upper-secondary education, other studies reveal that more than two-thirds of global income inequality is explained by differences between countries — underscoring how powerfully where an individual lives and works shapes economic outcomes. With barriers to opportunity often defined by the limitations of nationality, the Henley Opportunity Index makes a compelling case for residence and citizenship planning as a game-changing strategy for families looking to transcend the constraints of their “birthright lottery”.

By securing strategic residence or citizenship rights through participating in programs such as the US EB-5, individuals gain access to dynamic economies, high-growth industries, and unparalleled career prospects — proving that in today’s world, where you live matters just as much as what you learn.