More than half of property developers in New York are relying on Chinese EB-5 investment immigration to finance their projects, with many more high-end residential properties across the US being developed using Chinese investor immigrant funds.
“US Investment immigration may be the only method for many Chinese families to get green cards if they do not have relatives or jobs in the US. This is because US Investment immigration has no requirements for language skill, educational background, or work experience,” says one immigration analyst.
The Employment Based Fifth Preference, or EB-5, has become an increasingly popular method for Chinese people to obtain US citizenship over the last few years. Launched in 1990, the EB-5 has seen a 700 per cent growth in a six year period, and the number of green cards issued through the EB-5 program grew from nearly 2,000 in fiscal 2010 to more than 10,000 in 2014.
The EB-5 requires foreign investors to invest a minimum of $500,000 in the US, as well as create 10 or more local jobs, in order to be granted a green card. However, these requirements may change later this year when the EB-5 act expires in September, with lawmakers pushing the US congress to extend the EB-5 act but increase the investment requirement to $800,000 dollars. Stricter auditing requirements have also been proposed to prevent fraud occurring in the EB-5 scheme.
Figures show that EB-5 applicants invested over $1.5 billion in the US in 2013, creating 31,000 jobs in the process.
Source: cri.cn