eb5exclusive

The U.S. has long been one of the primary targets for immigration, largely because of the potential for newcomers to find a niche and create their own path. While the hyper-idealized American Dream may be a concept of the past, the U.S. is still drawing in investors seeking financial opportunities and families looking to tap into the American education system.

One attractive opportunity for these immigrants, the EB-5 visa program, is an initiative managed by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and gives wealthy foreigners and their families the chance to gain U.S. green cards through directed investments in American businesses.

Under the program, the U.S. government may issue up to 10,000 EB-5 visas each year to foreigner financiers who invest at least $1 million in a U.S. company (or $500,000 in a EB-5 regional center or company in which the unemployment rate exceeds the national average by 150 percent) and create at least 10 jobs.

Partially due to relaxed regulations in immigration policy and partially because of economic conditions that demand an openness to new avenues of investment, the EB-5 visa program has gained popularity over the past several years.

In total, the number of approved EB-5 visas has nearly tripled between fiscal years 2008 and 2009 from 1,443 to 4,218 visas, according to the US State Department.

But some skeptics view participation in the program as a risky venture.
Qi Lixin, who chairs the Beijing Entry and Exit Service Association in China, says there is no guarantee that the large investment sums will generate any returns.

“If losses occur, [who] can assure Chinese applicants get their $500,000 back on time? The domestic agency, or foreign investment organization?” Qui posed to China Daily News.

He added that there is no law in the U.S. to protect Chinese immigration investors and “if unforeseen things happen, we do not know who will shoulder the responsibility from the contracts.”

In 2007, one EB-5 visa holder, French businessman and law professor Eric Calan-Forgues, invested $500,000 in a regional center that helped fund the construction of Comcast’s headquarters in Philadelphia, the Washington post reports.

More than two years later, Calan-Forgues expects to get back only about a 1 percent return on his investment at the five-year mark, a sum which may cover administrative costs and inflation by a minute margin.

But the investor told the news source, “I knew the conditions going in, and it was worth it to me.”