eb5exclusive

A Connecticut city council recently voted to approve the mayor's plan to use the EB-5 visa program to revitalize the area.

The Norwich City Council voted unanimously to approve Mayor Peter Nystrom's plans for revitalization, according to the Norwich Bulletin.

As part of the plan, the council instructed City Manager Alan Bergren to gather information about the EB-5 visa program.

The EB-5 visa program was started in 1990 to help American businesses attract foreign investment. If a foreign national invests $1 million in a U.S. business and as a result of that investment 10 jobs are created or preserved, the investor becomes green card eligible.

A great deal of EB-5 investments are handled through EB-5 regional centers, which direct and manage the foreign capital. According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, EB-5 regional centers can be "any economic unit, public or private, which is involved with the promotion of economic growth, improved regional productivity, job creation, and increased domestic capital investment."

City Council President Pete Desaulniers said that the EB-5 visa program was essential to city's plan.

"We are encouraging foreign investors," Desaulniers told the news source. "It's very much part of our economic plan," Braddock said.