Why Limit Investment Visas to Treaty Countries?
In case someone did not notice, the economic condition of the US is not so hot right now. It does not seem like a very big stretch to me that the US should be welcoming any person who wants to come here and invest capital. Sadly, this is not the case. If you are from a country that does not have a treaty with the US you are not able to get a temporary investor visa. I can not tell you how many clients we have from around the world (India in particular) that this impacts. So instead of coming to the US they often go elsewhere (Canada is a big winner here).
As long as I am on this point, I wish passive investment in the US would qualify. People have talked about retirement visas, or stimulus visas. Other countries welcome people who even make significant investment in their own real property (Canada again, as well as Australia). The US simply does not. I can’t figure it out. We are mired in a real estate crisis and this would create incentive for foreign buyers.
None of these ideas are revolutionary. In fact they are simple solutions. I hope people are listening.
I could not agree more. There are so many simple solutions that would really help.
I am a Realtor in St. Petersburg and I see a lot of European clients who would buy property here and spend their money in Florida IF they could get some kind of retirement visa.
Also, there are a lot of people on E2 visas that would invest even more money if they did not have to deal with the constant fear of losing their E2 status upon renewal.