Welcome to America!!

Thousands of foreign investors flock to the U.S. in order to "make some buck."

 

Big time, wealthy foreigners are making large investments in America companies, risking the fluctuating economy and eagerly putting themselves on the path to citizenship in the process.

The State Department expects to issue over 6,000 "investor visas" in the current fiscal year, which would be an all-time record. Other countries, are following the U.S.'s lead, keen to spur growth in lean economic times. The idea behind "investor visas" is to ultimatly create job and bring money into U.S. economy.
Bill Wright, a spokesman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services says,  "At the same time, it's allowing somebody from a foreign country to come and invest in our nation."

The U.S. has very specific qualifications for its "visitors." To qualify for a visa, immigrants must invest at least $1 million in a new or recently created business, or $500,000 for businesses in rural or high-unemployment areas. The investment must be demonstrated to have created or preserved at least 10 full-time jobs for U.S. workers within two years. Assuming this condition is met, investors and their families graduate to permanent resident status, and can apply for full citizenship three years later.

As usual business is looked at in the "long run" therefore, State Department officials expect the program's quota of 10,000 visas per year, which includes visas given to the spouses and children of investors, to be filled for the first time ever within the next year or two. Critics of the U.S. program question the fairness of letting wealthy immigrants pay for special treatment, while others say investments and job creation claims need stricter vetting. Immigrants who arrive via the program have no guarantee of recovering their investments, and may face deportation if they don't produce the required number of jobs.


There will always be critics, yet according to USCIS data of the 12,000 immigrants who've arrived on the "investor visas," just 39% have earned permanent residency. So is this program fair and/or beneficial?
Whatever the program's problems, interest has been growing in recent years, and meanwhile, the U.S. has faced increasing competition from other countries trying to gain the support of well-heeled foreigners with the promise of citizenship. (Around 20 countries currently offer residency or citizenship by investment)


On the positive side, immigrant investor program has been responsible for at least 46,810 jobs, so it can be safe to say that this program is beneficial and will only increase in the "long run." The program is up for renewal in the fall, and while USCIS says it has "no indication" that the initiative will be allowed to expire, some supporters are more wary.

We shall see what the USCIS decides on its "investor visas" program, yet we must all be wary of the fact that with new immigrant investors, comes a mass amount of competition in our economy.

Will this program put a strain on American-born citizens and how will it impact our economy in the long run?

Check out more at: 

http://finance.yahoo.com/