Tina To's Real Estate Blog

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As I have mentioned before, foreign student are paying 3 times to 10 times the tuition fee of what the local students are paying.  If these students acquire their immigrant status as an investor, maybe they can save a lot.  Before 1990, Nov. 29, one cannot dream of getting their immigrant status by investment less than 3 million.

Now, with a minimum of $500,000 investment money plus some attorney fees, one may get an immigrant visa within a few months.  The new immigration law is known as EB-5.  There are many immigrant investor regional centers specialize to help foreigners to do this.  This $500,000, however, cannot be used to buy a property solely for the immigrant student to stay.

According to EB5, this sum has to be used to purchase existing business that had been down or deteriorating in the past 2 years, investors are to restructured it into a new enterprise, expand it to increase at least 40% in the net worth or in the number of employees.  Or the investment could be invested in the targeted area with high unemployment rate and results in creating 10 full time jobs (workers that work minimum 35 hours per week) for 2 years.  Or to purchase investment properties such as farmland, vineyards etc. in the rural area.  Rural area are places outside boundary of any city that have 20,000 or more residents.  For example, Half Moon Bay at the San Mateo County, Sonoma at the Sonoma County and Byron at the Contra Costa fulfilled this rural area requirements.

If you are interested to know more about this, you may go to www.uscis.gov to obtain additional information.