Congress Reauthorizes EB-5 Investor Visa Program, Opening Door to Wealthy Chinese Immigrants
Wealthy Wealthy Chinese nationals looking to obtain a U.S. green card may see their chances improve after President Joe Biden and Congress recently resurrected the EB-5 investor visa program.
The program, which lapsed in June last year, started more than two decades ago, allowing immigrant investors to secure a conditional green card in exchange for investing at least $500,000 in U.S. geographic areas with high unemployment rates, known as targeted employment areas (TEA). The amount increased to $1 million for non-TEA regions.
Regardless of where the investment goes, the project they invest in must create 10 new American full-time jobs.
For years, China has accounted for the bulk of EB-5 applicants. According to data (pdf) from the Congressional Research Service, Chinese nationals received 46 percent (4,327) of total EB-5 visas in the fiscal year 2019, followed by Indian and Vietnamese nationals each at 8 percent.
There have been concerns that the visa program could be exploited by the Chinese communist regime, according to a 2020 report (pdf) by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
“Concerns have been raised regarding Chinese state-sponsored nationals seeking U.S. residency through this program as a means of extending surveillance and intelligence gathering,” the report said.
“As other avenues of immigration have closed, EB-5 is likely to be exploited more systematically by the Chinese government.”
On March 15, when Biden signed the omnibus spending bill into law, included within it was the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, a bill that reauthorized the visa program. The program will now be in effect until Sept. 30, 2027.
There are a number of changes under the new legislation. For example, the minimum EB-5 investment has been raised to $1.05 million, or $800,000 if in a TEA region.
The legislation also put in place a number of integrity measures to prevent fraud and deter bad actors from exploiting the program. One such measure involves the secretary of homeland security, who is required to audit each EB-5 regional center at least once every year. The audit involves looking over the centers’ transactions, books, ledgers, records, and other documentation.
There are over 600 regional centers approved by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the United States, offering investment projects that EB-5 applicants can select from to fulfill the investment and other requirements for the visa program.
According to data from Chicago-based think tank MarcoPolo, Chinese EB-5 investment from 2010 to 2019 totaled $10.2 billion, with most of the money going to California, New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, Florida, Nevada, Georgia, Washington, Illinois, and Maryland.
Chinese real estate money, including those from the EB-5 program, has transformed the San Francisco Bay Area, with money going into poor neighborhoods from Oakland to Treasure Island, according to a 2017 article by MarcoPolo.
One notable criminal case in recent years involved Zhao Shilan, ex-wife of a former Chinese official. In 2017, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that she pleaded guilty to committing EB-5 fraud by submitting false documents to federal authorities. Chinese nationals looking to obtain a U.S. green card may see their chances improve after President Joe Biden and Congress recently resurrected the EB-5 investor visa program.
The program, which lapsed in June last year, started more than two decades ago, allowing immigrant investors to secure a conditional green card in exchange for investing at least $500,000 in U.S. geographic areas with high unemployment rates, known as targeted employment areas (TEA). The amount increased to $1 million for non-TEA regions.
Regardless of where the investment goes, the project they invest in must create 10 new American full-time jobs.
For years, China has accounted for the bulk of EB-5 applicants. According to data (pdf) from the Congressional Research Service, Chinese nationals received 46 percent (4,327) of total EB-5 visas in the fiscal year 2019, followed by Indian and Vietnamese nationals each at 8 percent.
There have been concerns that the visa program could be exploited by the Chinese communist regime, according to a 2020 report (pdf) by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
“Concerns have been raised regarding Chinese state-sponsored nationals seeking U.S. residency through this program as a means of extending surveillance and intelligence gathering,” the report said.
“As other avenues of immigration have closed, EB-5 is likely to be exploited more systematically by the Chinese government.”
On March 15, when Biden signed the omnibus spending bill into law, included within it was the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, a bill that reauthorized the visa program. The program will now be in effect until Sept. 30, 2027.
There are a number of changes under the new legislation. For example, the minimum EB-5 investment has been raised to $1.05 million, or $800,000 if in a TEA region.
The legislation also put in place a number of integrity measures to prevent fraud and deter bad actors from exploiting the program. One such measure involves the secretary of homeland security, who is required to audit each EB-5 regional center at least once every year. The audit involves looking over the centers’ transactions, books, ledgers, records, and other documentation.
There are over 600 regional centers approved by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the United States, offering investment projects that EB-5 applicants can select from to fulfill the investment and other requirements for the visa program.
According to data from Chicago-based think tank MarcoPolo, Chinese EB-5 investment from 2010 to 2019 totaled $10.2 billion, with most of the money going to California, New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, Florida, Nevada, Georgia, Washington, Illinois, and Maryland.
Chinese real estate money, including those from the EB-5 program, has transformed the San Francisco Bay Area, with money going into poor neighborhoods from Oakland to Treasure Island, according to a 2017 article by MarcoPolo.
One notable criminal case in recent years involved Zhao Shilan, ex-wife of a former Chinese official. In 2017, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that she pleaded guilty to committing EB-5 fraud by submitting false documents to federal authorities.
