The Hindu Business Line : `Easy way' to get a US green card

Getting a green card in the US within a short span of time is possible but the procedure is not widely known, says Mr Michael Phulwani, an attorney in the US, who practises immigration and nationality law and visa matters in that country.

A case in point is the EB-5 category visa, wherein qualified individuals can get permanent resident status in the US by engaging in a new commercial enterprise.

"This is the Gold Card way to get into the US," says Mr Henry G. Liebman, President, American Life Inc.

Through the Immigrant Investor Programme, started in 2003, an investor can invest $5,00,000 in what are called `Regional Centres' (that are similar to the Special Economic Zones in India), areas designated by the Government as eligible to accept immigrant money.

The investor can even do a passive investment, need not hire any employee and he/she can get a green card.

Green Card

Mr Liebman manages one such regional centre that buys old buildings and renovates them.

There are other such centres that are involved in dairy farming, vineyard, and so on, he explains.

Investors can get a list of these businesses from any lawyer.

According to him, many Indians have made use of this programme to get green card for themselves or their relatives; a lot of them are from Bangalore, he adds.

"An advantage of this programme is that if you have a brother in the US, the brother can loan you money to get into the US.

"It's a great tool for family reunification. And you don't have to work at all, if you don't want to," he points out.

The applicants have to prove the source of funds, normally through tax returns, business records, employee records, etc.

Though 10,000 such visas are available every year under the Immigration and Nationality Act, currently only 500 have made use of this programme.

Another salient feature of this programme is that the investor can invest in any city in the US, and not necessarily in the city of his residence, says Mr Liebman.

The spouse and children are included in this visa, he adds.

Wooing Students

Broadly outlining the immigration policies of the US, Mr Phulwani says that authorities concerned are having a re-look at relaxing student visa norms, as countries such as the UK, Singapore and Australia are wooing students with easier visa procedures.

And there are also possibilities of relaxing the ceiling on the H-1 category visas as big corporations such as Microsoft and IBM that have facilities in many countries are looking at attracting more technical talent outside the US.

He adds that non-immigrant visa applicants can now get early appointments at the US Embassy in New Delhi and the Consulate offices at Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

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