Immigrant investor programs
Immigrant Investor Programs are set forth by countries to attract foreign capital and business people by providing the right of residence and citizenship in return.
Targeted inbound foreign direct investment (FDI) can be achieved by these programs. Countries are able to specify which parts of the economy are to be invested in. In the US, the EB5 investor program is one such Immigrant Investor programs. This program requires overseas applicants to invest anywhere from US $500,000 to US $1 million, depending on location of project. Further the program has a job creation condition attached to it that requires at least 10 jobs be created. In return the applicant obtains United States permanent residence (Green card) for his family. There is an annual cap of 10,000 applications under the EB5 program,[1] Last year was the first time the program has reached the maximum amount.
Similar programs exist for the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Bulgaria and others. St. Kitts and Nevis offers its own economic citizenship program through a qualified real estate purchase or investment into its Sugar Industry Diversification Foundation.
Earlier in 2014 Canada decided to cancel the program they had been running.