Uptick in EB-5 investor visas could partly help spur South Florida economy
By Steve Gara - Miami Business and Industry Examiner, Examiner.com
I found it very interesting to see that the opportunity for foreign nationals to get a green card by way of investing here in the US, particularly in Florida is on the rise. Most of the interest in investment is in distressed real estate, properties that are located all over south florida, whether it is residential or commercial. There is a pilot program established for wealthy foreigners to get the EB-5 investor visa but they must to invest upwards of half a million dollars or more in a new or established business that leads to the creation of 10 or more full time jobs.
Until the pilot program was approved, a $1 million investment was typically required to be eligible for the EB-5 investor visa, which required investors to employ 10 workers directly. The lower investment threshold could be a significant incentive for more people to apply, attorneys say.
About 10,000 EB-5 investor visas are available annually, of them about 3,000 for the pilot program. Last year, fewer than 1,000 were issued under the relatively obscure EB-5 visa program. A move is under way in Congress to make the pilot program permanent in the aftermath of growing interest brought about by the recession.
This is good news for us locally because it jumps starts our local economy by bringing in much needed fresh capital from overseas since local sources for funds and credit still remain dry. This new influx of funds creates jobs, which in turn creates the momentum for the economy to get rolling again and could give south florida a competitive edge to emerge from the recession better off than most areas of the country.
As the debate heats up with immigration reform in the coming year, it will be interesting to see whether this program in fact gets expanded or becomes a casualty of bureaucracy.
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