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Canada ups price on EB-5-like visa program
Canada has raised the minimum investment required in their immigration program that is similar to America’s EB-5 visa program from $400,000 Canadian to $800,000.
This increase, combined with the three-year waiting period for the Canadian business visa, may provide a boost in applications for the U.S.’s EB-5 visa program, according to Wright Johnson’s blog.
The EB-5 visa program gives foreign nationals a chance to earn a U.S. green card. If $1 million (or in some specially designated areas, $500,000) is invested in an American business, and that investment leads to the creation or preservation of 10 jobs, the investor becomes green card eligible.
With the increase in the minimum investment required for the Canadian visa, the EB-5 visa program becomes more attractive to foreign investors, according to the website.
In addition, the U.S.’s EB-5 visa program offers EB-5 regional centers, which help manage and direct EB-5 investments. These centers provide investors with a relatively simple and hands-off route towards their green cards.
According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, Chinese investors received the most green cards through the EB-5 visa program in 2009, with 1,979.