08:14
Darren Silver & Associates
Earlier this month, Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy (D) announced that he plans to try again to make the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Regional Center pilot program a permanent immigration fixture. Leahy described Vermont’s regional center program, which was established in 1997, as an economic powerhouse.
“Vermont’s regional center program is an economic engine for the state,” he said. “In a small state like ours, economic success in one area is inevitably felt in other parts of the state. Making the EB-5 program permanent is just the start. We are working to modernize the program to handle the growth it has seen across the country in recent years. Vermont’s use of the program is a model of success, and other states have taken note.”
Over the past handful of years, Sen. Leahy has worked with colleagues to extend the EB-5 pilot program – it is currently authorized up until September 2012. Earlier this month, he introduced new legislation that would permanently authorize the immigrant visa program.
The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Regional Center pilot program was first introduced in 1993. Since that time, the program has brought over $1 billion in international investment to the U.S. and has created thousands of jobs for American workers. More than 130 centers are currently active in the United States.
“Making the EB-5 program permanent should receive bipartisan support. Most people will agree that creating jobs and capital investment is a good, bipartisan goal,” said Sen. Leahy. “We faced some challenges in recent years as we tried to make the program permanent, but these were due to broader immigration politics, and a desire to fold all immigration reforms into a comprehensive package. These are political challenges and not policy problems.”
The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Regional Center pilot program enables foreign investors, who pledge at least $500,000 in support of a U.S.-based project, to apply for an EB-5 visa, which will allow them to remain in the United States under a conditional two-year green card. After that two-year period, if the investor is able to show that his or her investment has led to the establishment of a minimum of 10 jobs for U.S. workers (as well as meeting other requirements), he or she is able to remain in the United States under the same green card status.
“Vermont’s regional center program is an economic engine for the state,” he said. “In a small state like ours, economic success in one area is inevitably felt in other parts of the state. Making the EB-5 program permanent is just the start. We are working to modernize the program to handle the growth it has seen across the country in recent years. Vermont’s use of the program is a model of success, and other states have taken note.”
Over the past handful of years, Sen. Leahy has worked with colleagues to extend the EB-5 pilot program – it is currently authorized up until September 2012. Earlier this month, he introduced new legislation that would permanently authorize the immigrant visa program.
The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Regional Center pilot program was first introduced in 1993. Since that time, the program has brought over $1 billion in international investment to the U.S. and has created thousands of jobs for American workers. More than 130 centers are currently active in the United States.
“Making the EB-5 program permanent should receive bipartisan support. Most people will agree that creating jobs and capital investment is a good, bipartisan goal,” said Sen. Leahy. “We faced some challenges in recent years as we tried to make the program permanent, but these were due to broader immigration politics, and a desire to fold all immigration reforms into a comprehensive package. These are political challenges and not policy problems.”
The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Regional Center pilot program enables foreign investors, who pledge at least $500,000 in support of a U.S.-based project, to apply for an EB-5 visa, which will allow them to remain in the United States under a conditional two-year green card. After that two-year period, if the investor is able to show that his or her investment has led to the establishment of a minimum of 10 jobs for U.S. workers (as well as meeting other requirements), he or she is able to remain in the United States under the same green card status.
