Thursday, August 6, 2009

Score a U.S visa for $500,000


EB-5 visa program which is scheduled to expire by the month of September can be saved with this new policy of investment by immigrants. A bipartisan group of senators is trying to save EB-5 immigrants with this program.

In this program, the foreigners who invest $500,000 in struggling areas will get a temporary visa and if an investment can offer at least 10 jobs for US workers, the temporary visa changes to permanent green card. As per the record, last year, more than $400 million was invested in U.S ventures by EB-5 immigrants.

Though some consider this program unfair as foreign investors can buy a permanent green card, however local officials think the program is a great and effective way to develop the struggling areas.







"It puts us on the map," says Tim Sheehy, president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce."EB-5 gives foreign investors the opportunity to consider a market that they probably wouldn't look at otherwise."

Across the country there are 46 regional centres offering investment in almost everything from ethanol plant to Napa Valley Vineyard.


2 comments:

Mike Frizzi said...

while your figures are accurate, I do not really agree with your word choice in the headline. The visa is not simply handed over in exchange for an investment. The eb5 visa program, like all visas, requires many conditions to be met and several hurdles to be traversed, so, reducing it to a simple monetary exchange is really a bit misleading.

Dom said...

I am going to have to agree with Mike here. I do believe that the headline is a bit tongue in cheek, but there is plenty of work involved, and with the eb5 visa program the investment must be put at a legitimate risk, and some immigrants do end up losing their money. So, it is not exactly a cut and dry process.