India
The Next EB-5 Frontier
by Rohit Kapuria
India’s diaspora of some 25 million people is
a force to be reckoned with. During colonial
times, thousands of Indian laborers and
traders were dispersed across the world.
Between 1970 and 1990, as India’s economy
faltered under Nehruism, a second wave of
Indian traders headed for the
booming economies of the
Arabian Gulf and Southeast
Asia. Simultaneously, a new
class of educated Indians
migrated to the west and
assimilated therein.
Rohit Kapuria
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Today, there are several offshore hubs—Dubai, Doha, and
Singapore—that contain a sizeable Indian population capable
of flexing serious economic muscle. Alongside this group are
elite plutocrats who own firms in India, maintain residences in
Europe and the United States, educate their children in London
and New York, and even adopt citizenship elsewhere.
Although many Indian citizens contemplate immigrating to
the west, they are largely unaware of the EB-5 program. While
Indian EB-5 investors have traditionally represented less than
two percent of the annual EB-5 filings, I predict that India
will prove herself as the next big EB-5 market. As retrogression
threatens the availability of EB-5 visas for Chinese investors, the
market will likely turn to other sources. Prior to exploring the
Indian EB-5 market, it is important to understand the country’s
financial history and economy.
E B 5 I n v e s to r s M ag a z i n e