Now, buy a green card

Affluent Gujaratis are first in line for ‘investor visas’.

AHMEDABAD: Ramesh Patel (55), a wealthy diamond merchant from Surat, and his wife were seeking US visas for a long time. Last week, his immigration consultant said they could get their green cards within a year — for an investment of $1 million. Unfazed, the Patels are already packing their bags.

Rameshbhai has applied for the EB-5 investor visa, the fastest way to emigrate to the US and acquire a green card.

This is under the Employment Creation Aliens Programme, which requires a person to invest $1 million (nearly Rs5 crore) in a business and employ 10 full-time staff for two years. Though the programme began in 1991, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) started promoting it in Asia only recently.

Mumbai-based immigration consultant Arun Vakil has already received more than 10 enquiries. “The USCIS grants a conditional green card upon initial investment and two years later issues an unrestricted green card upon verification of employees and capital,” Vakil told DNA. “Many Gujaratis have shown interest in investing in the hotel business in the US.”

The green card can be obtained for the investor, spouse, and children below 21 years of age. The applicant may start a business, buy a business, or invest in an existing business. The programme reduces the investment amount to $500,000 for rural or high-unemployment areas. This programme is available in three states — Washington, California, and Florida.

No case from India has been realised yet, but Vakil believes EB-5 will gain momentum here in a big way, especially with affluent Gujaratis, for whom money is no object.