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Mexicans look to escape violence through investor visas
Though the EB-5 visa program has been a favored option for many European and East Asian immigrants, the federal initiative, and other similar investor visas are gaining a reputation among Mexican immigrants as well.
Specifically, immigration lawyers have said that escalating violence in Mexico has prompted more wealthy residents of the neighboring country to relocate to Houston, Texas through the U.S. government’s E2 visa program, the Houston Chronicle reports.
“Partially, I was looking for peace and tranquility,” Emanuel Parra, a Mexican entrepreneur who moved to Houston through the E2 visa program, told the news source.
He added, “We lived in a nice area in Mexico, buy my wife would say ‘Don’t let the boys play outside because they will be robbed.’”
Participation in the E2 program requires that an immigrant invest at least $150,000 in a new or existing U.S. company, in exchange for a temporary two-year visa, which he or she may attempt to renew every other year.
As opposed to EB-5 visa holders, E2 status immigrants are not allowed to leave the U.S. for more than six months at any time.
In addition, under the EB-5 visa program, investors are able to receive permanent residency in the U.S. as early as two years after their initial immigration application is accepted.