Posted on 04/17/2015 6:51:58 AM PDT by Citizen Zed
The United States has depleted its annual supply of EB-5 immigrant investor visas for the second year in a row after a huge wave of applications from rich Chinese.
The State Department has announced that starting in May, no more spots will be available to Chinese for the rest of the U.S. government's fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.
Known as EB-5, the immigration program hands out green cards to foreigners who invest at least $500,000 and create 10 jobs in the U.S. The program, which caps the number of visas issued annually at 10,000, hit its annual limit for the first time last August.
This year, the program has reached the quota even earlier, reflecting the massive jump in demand among wealthy Chinese to move to the U.S., especially after Canada ended a similar program in 2014.
The waiting line now for an EB-5 visa is estimated to stretch two to three years, according to law firm Greenberg Traurig.
There are 13,000 pending applications, and the long queue is of particular concern for investors hoping to secure green cards for their children, said immigration lawyer Bernard Wolfsdorf of Wolfsdorf Rosenthal. Kids can only get dependent visas through an investor parent if they're 21 years or younger at the time of application approval.
"Many apply so they can give their college kids a chance to attend top U.S. colleges," said Wolfsdorf. "Some parents who filed too close to the child's 21st birthday will age out."
In 2014, Chinese nationals accounted for 90% of EB-5 visas issued, compared to just 13% in 2004, according to government data compiled by CNNMoney. That translated to 8,308 EB-5 visas for Chinese nationals last year, a huge surge from a decade ago, when only 16 visas were granted to Chinese.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
So we limit investment while encouraging unlimited numbers of the penniless.
got it
That was my first thought, but then I wondered what kind of jobs those Chinese were creating. THey may be hiring people to help export even more product production back to China.
Depends on the type of investment as to whether we really want it.
Good point.
Nah. If the Triads were involved, Harry Reid would be dead.
Canada shut down its investor visa program in late 2013, where you get a visa in return for an $800,000 loan to the Canadian government. Or they could invest millions in Canada and get a visa.
Vancouver’s real estate market has become the second most expensive in the world, as of 2014, because the Chinese were buying up condos to make an investment of millions and get an investment visa.
Chinese are flooding the US visas in part because Canada closed theirs.
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