Want a Green Card? Invest in Real Estate - NYTimes.com

Want a Green Card? Invest in Real Estate - NYTimes.com: "Under the federal program, a foreigner who invests $500,000 — and in some instances, $1 million — in a project that will create at least 10 jobs can apply for a green card. It generally takes from 22 to 26 months to obtain legal residency through the program, as opposed to several years for other visa programs.

While the EB-5 program has been around since 1990, it was only in the wake of the recession, when securing loans from traditional lenders became difficult, that companies began using it in earnest to raise money for projects. Any company is eligible as long as it hires 10 people per foreign investor. So, for example, a fast-food franchise can raise $1 million from two investors if it hires 20 employees.

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“Two or three years ago, the government created a structure that made it much easier for us,” said David Finkelstein, the chief operating officer of the American Immigration Group, which advises developers on the visa program. “Now we can use our construction costs and certain soft costs, like architectural costs, to determine how many jobs we will create, and therefore, how much we can raise from investors.”

In the last four years, the program’s popularity has surged. In fiscal year 2010, 1,885 visas were issued. But by fiscal year 2013 that figure jumped 354 percent to 8,564, according to government data. Last year, the entire annual allotment of 10,000 visas had been claimed by August — before the end of the fiscal year in October.

This year the quota was reached even earlier, on May 1. Under the program, the family of the investor, including any dependent under 21, can apply for a green card, and each family member is counted toward the quota. As most investors apply as a couple or a family, the supply is used up quickly.

Numbers are hard to come by, but in fiscal year 2013, the most recent year available, investment through the visa program totaled $379 million in New York State, according to data from Invest in the USA, an industry trade organization for the EB-5 program. That is 19 percent of the total investment in the program, second only to California, which makes up 22 percent. This is a major increase from previous years. Investment in New York State for fiscal years 2010 and 2011 combined only came to $327 million. These numbers are low because the data lags, and do not include some of the more recent large-scale projects, like Hudson Yards."



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