Ship of Fools: US citizenship for sale

Thread: US citizenship for sale Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by IconiumBound (# 754) on :

I happened acrossthis article.
It describes how this obscure EB-5 (1990) act has mushroomed into over 8500 visa requests were granted, mostly to Chinese millionaires, last year. These $500,000 fees allowed not only the payee citizenship but also their dependents.

It was enacted as a means to promote job growth and requires the person to make investments in new or re-organized enterprise.

I wonder if any shipmates are aware of this and why has it not been known about till this time?

Posted by Horseman Bree (# 5290) on :

Doesn't sound "new" to me, but I don't know the exact history of the program. A similar program operates in Canada

Not sure that I am happy with the general idea.

Posted by art dunce (# 9258) on :

it's a common subject for discussion and debate in Silicon Valley where non-Chinese and ABC's both bitch about the fact that rich Chinese buy a building and call it a job creator when in fact they're just buying up real estate and moving to Cali.

Posted by Carex (# 9643) on :

And I suspect that there was a similar program of some sort prior to 1990. I know someone who took advantage of the similar Canadian program, and I think there are similar ones in the UK and some other countries.

I suspect some of the reasons for the increase in applicants are the growth of entrepreneurs in China who are happy to leave and the fact that a million dollars isn't what it used to be. (It's less than what my Investment Advisor thinks I should have set aside for retirement.)

Posted by Belle Ringer (# 13379) on :

Last I looked (a few years ago) you can buy Canadian citizenship by depositing 750,000 Canadian with the government in a government investment fund, or start a business that employs at least two (?) non-family members for at least 2 (?) years full time. (A friend said it's common to rent a restaurant space, hire a cook and a waitress for two years, don't worry about whether you have any customers).

UK last I looked sells citizenship for 1 million pounds deposited with the government.

Used to be able to pick up Dominican Republic citizenship for about $35,000 US, but Bushy closed down by leaning on Dominican Republic to change its "terrorist enabling" law.

Posted by orfeo (# 13878) on :

The article is sloppy as hell. At the top, and in many places in the article, it says VISA for sale. Not citizenship.

Visas have application fees. My going to the US last year for up to 3 months cost $14. The various visas for entry into Australia have application fees, and while I don't know the amounts of the top of my head I'm fairly sure the ones that allow you to stay here for longer and give you greater rights cost more.

But having a visa is not citizenship. Even having a permanent residency visa is not citizenship. The Wikipedia article on EB-5 says it entitles you to a green card. A green card is not citizenship.

In other words, parts of that article are complete rot.

Posted by orfeo (# 13878) on :

PS Make that $20 it cost me. The border guards in Vermont decided I had to pay again to re-enter. I'm fairly sure they were wrong in law, but it didn't really feel like I was in a good position to argue.

Posted by LeRoc (# 3216) on :

My information may not be up-to-date, but I understand that in Brazil you can get a permanent visa if you open up a company in this country and invest R$ 50,000 (around € 17,000) in it.

Posted by Palimpsest (# 16772) on :

There was an article in the New Yorker recently Real Estate goes global about why Vancouver has such an expensive housing market relative to its economy. The short answer is that a lot of wealthy people, especially Chinese, are parking some money in housing there as a safe refuge if politics or climate change go wrong where they are.

Posted by Leorning Cniht (# 17564) on :

quote:
Originally posted by IconiumBound:

I wonder if any shipmates are aware of this and why has it not been known about till this time?

I know about it, and I imagine most people who have ever applied for employment-based green cards know about it.

There are 5 categories for employment-based green cards:

EB-1 (first preference) are for "outstanding" and "extrordinary" business executives, scientists and others. Basically you need international name recognition within your field. Once you demonstrate you have that, you're in.

EB-2 (second preference) is more or less open to anyone who needs a degree and 5 years experience to do the job they are applying for, but to get EB-2, the employer has to show that there's no suitable US worker available.

EB-3 (third preference) has weaker requirements on the job/applicant, but again your employer has to show that there aren't any suitable Americans.

EB-4 is a grab-bag of special cases. One of those special cases is priests and other religious workers. This is also the category that gives green cards to Iraqi translators and the like.

And then there's EB-5, the immigrant investor. You need to invest $1 million ($500,000 in specially designated areas that need investment) in a new business that will create 10 full-time US jobs for at least 2 years.

So yes, if you have enough money (and pass the background check - you can still be excluded if distaste for your criminal record exceeds desire for your cash) you can buy yourself a green card.

Once you have lived in the US with your green card for 5 years, you can apply for citizenship.

You make it sound as though the US shouldn't want wealthy people to move there and invest their money. I would rather expect every country to be happy if someone shows up with a big fat bank balance and would like to move in.

[ 07. August 2014, 00:45: Message edited by: Leorning Cniht ]

Posted by art dunce (# 9258) on :

And then you plow over orchards to build their McMansions and people get priced out of their homes and neighborhoods by people who don't give a hoot about the area but are looking for places to stash their money. It is one of the factors in the complete insanity and imbalance in the Bay Area. My friend looked at a crappy ranch house recently with an original 1950's kitchen that you had to use a bungee cord to hold the oven door closed and she was outbid by a Chinese investor who paid 1.8 million cash. She has lived there her entire life and now no one can afford anything. There was a burned to the ground house in Saratoga that went for almost 2 million to a Chinese investor.

Posted by Enoch (# 14322) on :

quote:
Originally posted by orfeo:
The article is sloppy as hell. ......
In other words, parts of that article are complete rot.

I agree. What the article describes is a scam. But in stead of attacking the local residents - conveniently complete with foreign sounding names and flash, foreign sounding, suits - for swindling foreigners who want an opportunity to invest in Chicago, it skates over that obvious fact and uses the story to lam into the iniquity of encouraging incoming investment. It's criticising the victims of the scam, rather than the scammers. The logic of that is that it's wrong to be a foreigner, but it's all right to swindle people if they are home born.

Posted by Belle Ringer (# 13379) on :

quote:
Originally posted by art dunce:
It is one of the factors in the complete insanity and imbalance in the Bay Area. .. There was a burned to the ground house in Saratoga that went for almost 2 million to a Chinese investor.

It's not news that governments want money more than they want generalized citizen welfare. Isn't that why they support tearing down poor people housing for condo builders? Local governments cheer when land goes for an over-valued price because they get to collect real estate taxes on the higher price. In most places they get to raise the taxes on the entire neighborhood based on one lot selling for a high price.

On a personal level, the size of tax collections a city manager oversees determines his value, if not in that job in the next one. Someone who oversaw a city with 10 million in taxes is not worth as much on the job market as one who oversaw a city with 100 million in taxes. So there's personal desire among city staff to see values rise. The size of the budget they worked with is part of their job hunting resume or justification for deserving a raise. I've seen it in my little town when they publicize who they are considering hiring for police chief or school super or city manager etc.

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