The good news, if you live in another country and want to skip to the front of the U.S. immigration line, is that a government program that grants visas to overseas investors is more popular than ever. The catch: The program, which critics say is rife with the potential for fraud, could visit money laundering and sanctions problems upon the banks facilitating the process.
Congress created the Employment-Based Fifth Preference program, better known as EB-5, an employment-based visa program, in 1990. It was intended to encourage capital investment in the United States by foreign investors in exchange for “green cards.” Conditional visas are offered to foreign nationals (and eligible dependents) who invest $1 million (or $500,000 in rural or government-designated “targeted employment areas”) in a new commercial enterprise that creates at least 10 full-time jobs.
