U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday considered plans to reform or entirely eliminate a controversial program that offers expedited residency visas to wealthy foreigners who pledge to make significant investments. Through the EB-5 visa program, which Congress established 27 years ago to attract overseas capital to the United States, foreign nationals can obtain green cards by investing at least $500,000 into U.S. commercial enterprises in a manner that creates or preserves at least 10 jobs. But critics have long contended that the system is vulnerable to fraudsters, and prone to exploitation by money launderers, drug traffickers, corrupt officials and other criminals, prompting...
Inadequate supervision over a U.S. immigration program through which wealthy foreigners can more easily obtain residency visas in exchange for investments could expose banks and brokers to legal and regulatory scrutiny, say analysts.
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