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Portland, Oregon, considers using EB-5 visa investments
City officials in Portland, Oregon, are looking to use the federal EB-5 visa program to generate millions of dollars in investments to help develop particular areas throughout the city.
The EB-5 visa program offers foreign nationals a quicker route to attaining U.S. residency in exchange for an investment of at least $500,000 in a U.S. business. The idea behind the initiative, is that the country may leverage a high demand for immigration into the U.S. to attain capital that could stimulate local economies.
The Portland Development Commission has been eyeing the immigration initiative as a way to help fund projects in Old Town, Chinatown and along the East Side’s new streetcar line, Portland Business Journal reports.
Portland would not be the first major city in the Pacific Northwest to use the EB-5 visa as an investment opportunity.
To date, Seattle has used the program to raise about $100 million for development initiatives, and an EB-5 regional center in Federal Way, Washington, is proposing to use foreign investments to develop a commercial area that features a 45-story condo-hotel building.
Each year, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reserves 10,000 U.S. visas for foreign nationals who qualify under EB-5 status.