With the future of the H-1B US visa program still in doubt, a company specializing in the facilitation of investments is targeting wealthy Indians with the ‘Golden Visa’. It promises a quicker way for immigrants to gain US citizenship, otherwise known as the E-B5 US visa.
The US Immigration Fund (USIF) launched Indian operations this year. It believes that wealthy Indians will invest at least $500,000 in a Targeted Employment Area via the E-B5 US visa program. When this results in the creation of at least ten new jobs, they will be able to receive US citizenship considerably faster than with the H-1B US visa program.
President Donald Trump has called for stricter guidelines for the issue of H-1B US visa. Democrat, Zoe Lofgren is introducing a new private member’s bill in the US Congress, to try to increase the minimum wage of H-1B US visa holders to $130,000 from the current rate of $60,000. Andrew Graves, the director of Business Development in India for USIF, says that demand for the E-B5 US visa has risen because of the increasing difficulties surrounding the acquisition of an H-1B US visa, and that awareness of the alternative is growing among Indians.
When an EB-5 US visa application is filed, a 1526 form must be filled in, via a US attorney. A temporary green card, lasting 18-months, is then issued. After two years, if all the conditions have been met, the 1829 form can be completed for permanent legal US residency.