EB-5 visa may double by January 2019; 10,000 are up for grabs every year

The visa promises foreign citizens a faster route to permanent residency in the US; 10,000 are up for grabs every year

Visa facilitation companies specialising in the United States' EB-5 visa programme are looking at high growth in 2018, as they wheel in wealthy Indians with the warning that the current $500,000 price could double by the end of the year. The EB-5 visa promises foreign citizens a faster route to permanent residency in the US provided they invest the one-time stipulated amount (more than Rs 31 million) in a government-approved EB-5 business or create 10 full-time jobs in the country. A total of 10,000 visas are up for grabs every year with no country allowed more than seven per cent