US immigrant investor scheme is becoming big business

Washington

WHAT began as a rarely used path to US citizenship for wealthy foreigners has become big business in American real estate, one that Congress is considering for reform.

The EB-5 immigrant investor programme allows citizens of foreign countries to acquire US visas by investing a minimum of US$500,000 into American businesses as long as the money creates at least 10 jobs.

A decade ago, the programme was barely used. By one count, only 346 such visas were issued nationwide in 2005.

But as real estate developers and other firms looked for investors willing to fund their projects following the recession, EB-5 became a popular source of capital, particularly for hotel and mixed-use real estate projects in California, New York, Florida and Washi…