Why would immigrant investors choose the U. S. EB-5 program when they could apply for similar programs in Europe, the Mediterranean or the Caribbean where waits for citizenship are much shorter? While the U. S. is still very attractive to immigrants and their families for its excellent educational system, economic opportunities and high quality of life, it’ s getting to the point where it just doesn’ t make a lot of sense for immigrants to choose America.
Advocates say people in the industry need to get active, contact their representatives in Congress and ask them to increase the cap or take other steps to address the EB-5 visa backlog. The battle over the Targeted Employment Area and other matters consuming the attention of Congress and people in the industry will mean little if the EB-5 backlog is not addressed and applications for the program dry up.
As an industry, Rosenfeld says the focus needs to be one thing— addressing the EB-5 visa backlog.
“ While there may be a six year backlog now, any legislation next year could return that backlog to zero,” Rosenfeld says.
Our message: Keep the United States competitive with the rest of the world!
It’ s in America’ s National Interest to Address the Extreme EB-5 Visa Backlog
By Bob Kraft
Each year, about 1 million Lawful Permanent Residents( LPR) are admitted to the U. S.
Capped at approximately 10,000 immigrant investors and derivatives, EB-5 comprises just 1 percent of the total number of LPR admissions and. 003 percent of the total population of the United States.
So while EB-5 immigration numbers are a drop in the bucket, the program has had a profound ripple effect on communities across our great nation. EB-5 has funded more than $ 14 billion in foreign direct investment, creating tens of thousands of American jobs, contributing to GDP, and adding to federal, state and local tax revenue— all at no cost to the taxpayer.
The effects of the backlog will be particularly pronounced in small market cities like Milwaukee, where EB-5 has been a catalyst for citywide development. Small cities and rural areas typically attract limited Foreign Direct Investment and I believe without EB-5 as a vehicle, these areas are less likely to do so in the future.
The mission of the U. S. Commerce Department is to create and promote conditions for economic growth, opportunity, job creation, sustainable development, and an improved standard of living for Americans. This strongly parallels the language Congress used to explain the intent of their EB-5 program.
“ EB-5 has funded more than $ 14 billion in foreign direct investment, creating tens of thousands of American jobs, contributing to GDP, and adding to federal state and local tax revenue— all at no cost to the taxpayer.”
The budget provides over half a billion dollars to the International Trade Administration( ITA), to promote economic growth and create high-paying jobs in the U. S. This includes funding for SelectUSA to facilitate job-creating business investment into the United States. It would appear that EB-5 is helping the administration do just that.
So, if the U. S. government has a department with parallel objectives which they fund to promote the growth of these very activities, why limit it? At present, we are principally capping EB-5 investments at approximately $ 1.5- $ 2.5 billion dollars and job creation at 30, 000 to 50,000 per year. Has the world’ s largest economy exceeded our appetite for job creation? Do our communities have too much investment?
WWW. EB5INVESTORS. COM 26