Posted on 02/13/2017 3:10:58 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
PITTSBURGH — A controversial government program allows wealthy foreigners to buy their way into this country. Some critics said it amounts to citizenship for sale. Action News Investigates has learned the program has Pittsburgh connections.
Immigrants who want to live in the U.S. are forced to wait as long as a decade to get a green card. But a government program called EB-5 allows wealthy immigrants to jump to the front of the line if they can pay $500,000.
The program has been hit with allegations of fraud and abuse, and now some in Congress say it needs to go.
Newly minted American citizens celebrated last month at a naturalization ceremony in Pittsburgh. For some, it was a long journey.
“I came to the states in 1992, so it's a quarter of a century, so it's a pretty special day,” said Katie Cheung.
For Zhong Zhuang, owner of a Chinese restaurant in Squirrel Hill, the wait for a green card was much shorter. His family got him into the EB-5 program and paid $500,000. Within two years he had a green card -- and that was considered a long wait for someone using EB-5.
Zhuang was asked about whether he thought he was buying his citizenship.
“It's not like you're buying citizenship," he said. "You need to create jobs."
He's right. The program does require that investors create 10 jobs for each $500,000 payment....
(Excerpt) Read more at wtae.com ...
That’s a bargain
I think it costs a million in Canada New Zealand or Australia
ping
Almost EVERY country on Earth has a similar program.
That’s a bargain
I think it costs a million in Canada New Zealand or Australia,”
I was told years ago by a Swiss engineer that non Swiss could buy their way into citizenship in a certain town. Different towns had different prices, 30,000 or 50,000 or 100,000. The logic was that the current citizens had paid for the infrastructure such as roads, schools, etc., and the newbies needed to pay in to what was already created.
Look in the boutique winery businesses....bunch of buyers from the Far East.
The best one was a Chinese buyer with a Seychelles corporate shell and documents written in French.
Tell me this was “vetted”. Right....
This a terrible program which mostly allows corrupt govt officials and their cronies into the US. Our pols love it because their friends and families are promoting the investments.
I wonder where that money goes and how it’s used.
[ Almost EVERY country on Earth has a similar program. ]
America is the Globalist Pimp’s Free Whore...
Come to America FREE! Hell they will PAY you to stay!!!!
Trump is cracking down on the Pimps and Johns!
I came across something that kind of surprised me in a way..unrelated to this.
Some States let you officially “bribe” them if you get a traffic ticket. You can pay your ticket and it goes on your record..or you can pay extra..and by extra.. it is not small change...to have it not go on your record if you stay clean for a certain amount of time.
This is not the defensive driving type of thing. This is pay a dollar amount and we won’t rat you out to the insurance company. No course needed.
Legal bribery.
You can do that on some criminal charges. Stay clean for X years and your conviction is expunged.
I’d be happy as a clam to welcome a million immigrants if they each created 10 to 1,000 jobs, wouldn’t you? Properly vetted first, of course.
Of course for the Chinese that means 10 of their relatives come along as well. So that works out to 45,454.45... per green card. Especially when it involves a restaurant.
I just read about a lady that lived in Switzerland for over 20 years - Brit married I think - she finally went for citizenship and the town turned her down because she made their lives miserable complaining about things like noisy cowbells!
Liberals would rather put the poor, uneducated, unskilled illegal aliens who would immediately get on welfare at the head of the line.
Yes, while I totally oppose amnesty, I also oppose special visa programs that directly sell legal residency for a price.
It should be the same across the board. Greed by the politicians, not corporations.
*** I’d be happy as a clam to welcome a million immigrants if they each created 10 to 1,000 jobs, wouldn’t you? Properly vetted first, of course. ***
A friend of mine dated a guy in San Antonio with a fake green energy company. He advertised in Asia, and the Middle East along the lines of “Be a Prestigious Executive Vice President of a Texas Energy Company, and live in America for $xxxxx.oo.” I think he was asking for more than $500,000.
Yes, she dropped him pretty quickly.
There have been scammers and con men in every industry since before we left the caves.
Where does the money go?
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