Immigrant Investor Visa

A reader recently sent me a link to a Tacoma, WA news story along with the comment, "I guess you can buy permanent residency."

We all know that you can't "buy" your residency, but I can see why someone might get the wrong idea about the immigrant investor visa. The traditional immigrant investor program has been around since 1990 and requires a $1 million investment and direct job creation of 10 full-time U.S. workers. Congress approved the newer regional center pilot program in 1992, and this program requires a $500,000 investment along with employment creation.

The News Tribune article gives a fair overview of the immigrant investor visa, but it doesn't discuss how difficult it is to get one. "The most [foreigners that take advantage of the visa] in a full year, 1,361, came in 1997. The fewest, 64, came in 2003." That doesn't sound like a lot when there are 10,000 immigrant investor visas up for grabs every year, but that's because it isn't easy to obtain this type of visa.

About 10 years ago, USCIS uncovered evidence of program abuse and launched a series of investigations against some of the companies that help immigrants set up their investments. As a result, the application process is now highly restrictive.

This visa is a win-win for everyone: our communities benefit from new enterprise, Americans get full-time jobs and the immigrant families are able to live the American dream. If you have some extra cash lying around, you might be interested in learning more about the EB-5 immigrant investor visa.

Photo: Dimitri Vervitsiotis/Getty Images