Ivan “uber rich” Igor is the man, at least that’s the optics/soundbite coming from the White House, say the pundits.
It follows last week’s surprise announcement by the Trump administration that a new investor visa program would allow “ultra wealthy” foreigners, including vetted Russian millionaires, to immigrate to the US if they invest five million dollars in a jobs-creating enterprise.
Yes, for a $5-million “gold card” (touted as more alluring than the regular green card), every Ivan and Anastasia from Russia, Lee and Lau from Hong Kong, and Chen and Tsai from China can migrate to the US along with their families with a clear pathway to American citizenship.
According to administration officials, the visa will replace the current EB-5 investor visa program.
As explained in this corner’s maiden article two years ago (“Immigration for the rich?”), a foreign investor can apply for immigrant visas for himself and his family if a capital investment is made for the establishment (or financial rehabilitation) of a commercial enterprise that is directly (or indirectly, in some cases) responsible for the creation of at least ten permanent, full-time American jobs.
Currently, the minimum investment stands at $1,050,000 for urban areas and $800,000 for targeted employment areas (TEA) — places that include infrastructure projects and high unemployment districts.
With the proposed changes, the “million-plus-fifty” minimum pot — or the discounted amount for TEAs — will be passé as an immigration investment tool.
Admittedly, while five million bucks is a lot of money, it is peanuts to some people whose net worth runs in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
In fact, it’s an attractive option for investors worried about the state of their country’s geopolitical affairs, including wealthy people from Taiwan, a sovereign territory besieged almost daily by China’s air-based and sea-based intrusions, as well as moneyed people from Hong Kong tired of the communist government’s political and economic interference.
However, while it is something that may also pique the interest of uber wealthy people from less affluent countries, including the Philippines and Brazil, for example, the program comes with a certain caveat that can impact one’s intentions.
In order to qualify, the investment money or assets should be well-documented to be originating from lawful sources or undertakings, meaning no financial hanky-panky regarding the source of the funds.
Consequently, this will disqualify those “wealthy” Filipinos or Brazilians, for instance, working in the public sector whose fat bank accounts vis-à-vis their regular government salaries are suspect as well as those private citizens engaged in shady financial dealings, such as tax evaders, money launderers, illegal gambling operators, and the like.
On the flip side is the common sense argument that if one is already ultra wealthy in one’s native country, why take the risk of starting all over again and leaving the comfort of one’s homeland in exchange for a shot at becoming a permanent resident of another country that is in the midst of an unprecedented political, socioeconomic, and cultural upheaval?
Arguably, unless one’s country is in a much worse state in the mold of Ukraine, North Korea, Yemen, Afghanistan or Iran, a person with a net worth north of $5 million (or almost 300 million Philippine pesos) might be better off staying put in their native land.