Wealthy Arabs are clamoring to sign up for the US program offering green cards to investors in return for money, as they attempt to beat further possible crackdowns on immigration in the US by President Donald Trump. Three Dubai businesses, which offer legal advice on immigration, claim that a large surge of demand for investor US visas has taken place since the announcement of the now blocked travel ban revealed by President Donald Trump in January.
The consultancy firm, Step America’s managing director, Preeya Malik, says that they have seen a great increase in client enrolment and general inquiries since Trump became President. Investors are trying to complete options before the implementation of any new immigration laws.
The EB-5 US visa program gives green cards to overseas investors who put at least $500,000 into a company in the US that results in the creation of a minimum of ten new jobs. The number of US visas issued by the program on an annual basis caps out at 10,000. Almost 83 percent of the EB-5 US visas since 2011 have gone to investors from China. Just two percent have gone to Middle Eastern investors, according to Invest in the USA.
Interest from that region is now surging, with the expectation that President Trump will unveil a new executive order at any time. There has been a 60 percent rise in inquiries and a 40 percent increase in applications for the EB-5 program since the first such order, according to Step America.