Editor's Note: The United States is one of the hardest countries for gaining citizenship. Before 5 years of permanent residence, you can't even think about submitting the 1,000 USD application. 1,000 USD if you file it on your own. Immigration lawyers are charging up to 7,500 USD to help a client through the process. Then there's the English and civics tests and the interview. If you have enough money, you can avoid all this by investing in a commercial enterprise that provides at least ten jobs for U.S. workers through the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. The translated article reports on this immigration method. 

More than 13,000 Mainland Chinese families have immigrated to the United States on EB-5 investor visas. U.S. Qiao Bao reported that many see this as a sign of a third wave of mass immigration to the United States. The newest wave is different from the first and second waves, which were made up of laborers: the third wave is based on investment visas.

Investment Visas: Popular with Mainland Chinese
Invest in the USA (IIUSA), an association that stimulates economic development through EB-5 visas and the EB-5 Regional Center Program, reported on May 3 that from 1992-2014 a total of 13,392 Mainland Chinese families obtained EB-5 visas. There are more Chinese in the U.S. living on EB-5 visas than investment visa holds from any other country.

EB-5 investors must file an I-526 immigrant petition to demonstrate they have invested or plan to invest the required amount of capital in an approved EB-5 project. 67.5% of EB-5 investors have been from Mainland China. These investors have spent a total of 6.696 billion RMB on EB-5 investment projects.

The Four Types of Chinese Immigrants
There are generally four types of Mainland Chinese immigrants to the United States. The first are study abroad students who immigrate after graduation. The second type are entrepreneurs, upper management, and tech workers from medium-sized companies. These immigrants are often either skilled migrants or immigrant on investment visas. These immigrants often return to China to work after immigration. The main reasons they want a U.S. green card are to support children’s education, for retirement, and because they fear that China may decline in the future.

Third, Chinese celebrities or those in the film industry. This group of immigrants is very small but have enormous wealth. The fourth type are corrupt officials and their families, which cause a negative impact.

The Rules of the EB-5
The EB-5 investment visa was originally created to stimulate the U.S. economy and increase employment opportunities for U.S. citizens. When economic conditions in the United States fluctuate, the government relaxes or tightens investment immigration policies. The U.S. government’s relationship with the Mainland Chinese government also affects the number of EB-5 visas approved.

Not all investments in the United States by Chinese immigrants are successful. Investments even sometimes fail because investors misunderstand the immigration policy and are unable to get visas after investing. This can lead to substantial losses for investors.

Many believe that foreign investors can get a green card if they invest $500,000 in an EB-5 approved project successfully. However, this is not the case. With $500,000, an investor receives a two-year short-term green card. In those two years, the investor must prove that their investment has garnered the agreed outcome, and then they are able to obtain a permanent green card.

In those two years, the investment project must employ the number of U.S. workers stipulated in the original plan. If this does not happen, investors will lose their eligibility for permanent green card status and must return to China, losing both money and time.

Source: QQ News

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Keywords: immigration U.S. wealthy Chinese U.S.