The EB-5 visa program coveted by many wealthy overseas investors is being revived after changes aimed at curbing abuses.
The EB-5 visa program has attracted $37 billion in foreign investments since 2008 and the queue of wealthy applicants from China to India is growing.
Earlier this year, the Biden administration signed a law that steps up audits and site visits to deter fraud, while also creating a path for some to skip the backlog of cases if they’re willing to invest in rural areas or places with high unemployment. Roughly 100,000 EB-5 visa applicants with some $15 billion in committed investments had been in limbo since the program lapsed, trade group Invest in the USA estimates.
The fresh rules are unleashing pent-up demand. Bernie Wolfsdorf, WR Immigration’s Managing Partner and a former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said his firm has been working overtime and hiring new staff to adjust to demand from countries like India, which has eclipsed the number of petitions filed from China. Drawing such investors could help prevent a brain drain, since many wealthy emigrants’ children study at top US schools, he said.
Read the entire Bloomberg article here.
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