(Based on a story in The Seattle Times) Did you know that greencards are for sale?
Each year the US offers 10,000 permanent-residency visas to foreigners and their immediate families who invest in $1 million, or as little as $500,000 in specially approved areas with high unemployment.
Last year the program sold all 10,000 green cards to investors and their families. Of course, there ARE ways around this. if you got the money according to a recent piece in the Seattle Times. Concierge consulting firms, like Bellevue-based Northwest International Consulting helping people interested in buying a green card find investments (usually low risk real estate) as well as finding a home, setting up bank accounts and connecting with schools. Given real estate values in the Northwest, it is pretty easy t0o see $500.000 or even $1,000,000 as a bank deposit that also gives you for free ..a greencard!
There is skepticism that the program is fair or whether it even serves American interests. While our priority ought to be attracting intellectual and entrepreneurial talent there is no reason to expect these “investors” to come here. Canada’s similar program is in trouble. Their version sold for $800,000 (Canadian) given as an interest-free loan to the government. Last year Canada shut down that program, because the immigration department concluded that “most immigrant investors are not making a long-term positive economic contribution to Canada.”
The Times reports that “In January, however, the Canadian government launched a pilot program for investor visas, with much stiffer requirements: Applicants must be fluent in English or French and hold a college degree; and they must invest $2 million in a government venture fund for startups that will repay pay the investor in 15 years. The new program, the government said, “will ensure that immigrants who come to Canada deliver meaningful benefits to our economy.””