US Economy: Citizenship for Sale

US cities like Miami are using the EB-5 visa to attract wealthy investors. The program was designed to promote development in areas of need, but Kara Scannell of the Financial Times describes luxury office towers, hotels and retail complexes. “For a $500,000 investment in a project that creates at least 10 jobs in a high-unemployment area, a foreign national can eventually receive a green card that allows him or her to live and work permanently in the US,” she reports. “Miami, already a magnet for wealthy families from Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina, is using the EB-5… as a tool to attract cash from China.” The program has contributed more than $15.5 billion in investment and created more than 80,000 jobs since 1990, reports the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. Miami’s goal is to become a global banking center. Canada dropped its investor visa, and other countries have tightened restrictions as critics argue for more oversight. The EB-5 visa attracted attention after the 2008 global recession, and the cap of 10,000 was reached for the first time in 2014 with the bulk going to Chinese. US Congress is considering whether to renew the visa program. – YaleGlobal