Investing in US is your easy ticket to a green card
CORPORATE BUREAU
Posted online: Saturday, January 06, 2007 at 0000 hours IST
MUMBAI, JAN 5: An easy ticket to get a green card for yourself and your family is to be a business investor in the US.
This comes under the EB-5 category which includes those who invest $1 million in a new business in the US and employ a mimimum of 10 or more American employees.
The investment has to target employment that will benefit the US economy. Under this category, investors are entitled to get temporary green cards for themselves, their spouses and children under 21 years of age. “Until now, this category was under-utilised but this trend is fast catching up since the last two years,” said Michael Phulwani, a lawyer who deals in immigration and nationality. Money will be invested for two years and investors will get periodic returns. The minimum requirement for such an investment is $500,000 in cash. The green cards will be valid for two years during which investors would get returns on investments. Thereafter, a new petition has to be filed to make the green cards permanent. After South Korea and the UK, the maximum number of business investors in the US are from India.
Henry Liebman, president of American Life Inc, a commercial real estate management, says, “In case of real estate, investors get 70% of the income and profit. The money is used to renovate warehouses, which in turn, are leased to ther people.”
Employment will be created through a company for which commercial property is being set up. He says that from India, people from the Gujarati community have been investing the most in real estate. In terms of cities in India, Mumbai is at the top, with the Gujarati community being the top investors, once again.
