The American Dream Is Now for Sale

Foreigners can obtain a green card if they invest $500,000 in an activity that generates at least 10 jobs. Requests from China and India boom.

The American dream is for sale — in the best possible sense of the word. A special government program allows foreigners to obtain a green card if they invest $500,000 in an activity that generates at least 10 jobs. If the operation works, the visitor’s visa becomes permanent and is transformed into full U.S. citizenship.

The program in question is called EB-5; it has experienced increasing success in recent years. There are two reasons: First, the economic crisis has multiplied the number of businesses looking for funding outside of conventional means; second, in this climate the number of wealthy foreigners looking for refuge in the relative stability of the United States has also increased. We are talking especially about rich Chinese, Indian, South Korean, Taiwanese, Arab and Canadian people, but also Europeans. From 1992 — the year in which the EB-5 program was launched — to today, 29,000 people have obtained green cards. In total they have invested $6.8 billion, creating 50,000 jobs. Three-quarters of these visas were awarded after 2008 — after the start of the global economic crisis, confirming that this was the triggering effect of the phenomenon.

The operation is relatively simple. Interested foreigners present themselves to a dedicated office, where they are told of the available investment opportunities. They range from funding for the construction of hotels or shopping centers to the purchase of factories. Once the candidates choose their preferred option, the government begins the appropriate background checks, in order not to let in the wrong people. These checks range from prior criminal activity to medical examinations for venereal diseases. If the various tests are all positive, in the sense that there are no impediments to entry into the country, the process is underway. The candidates surrender their capital and receive temporary permission of residence for two years. At the end of this period, the sums are calculated: If the money is still invested, the project is proceeding and has created at least 10 jobs, the green card becomes permanent.

The program has provoked some controversy; there have also been detrimental drawbacks to the investors, while some have criticized the fact that rich foreigners are advantaged relative to the poor when it comes to the ability to buy citizenship. In a time of crisis, though, the necessity of finding capital, which can have an immediate positive impact on the economy and employment, prevails; therefore the EB-5 initiative benefits from bipartisan support that keeps it safe from doubt. The Washington Post, for example, recounted the story of the Dekkers, a Dutch family of five who had come to Michigan to manage a factory. They risked losing everything, and so through this program, they invested $500,000 in the construction of a Marriott hotel in Washington, where they had never been before. The operation worked, the green cards arrived and the Dekker children are now university students, expecting to recuperate the money from the investment and take over management of the factory.