© Reuters. Chinese account for over 80 percent of the US investment visa applications
Hong KONG (Reuters) – The Chinese mainland account for over 80 percent of the people who are waiting for a visa, which gives them US citizenship in return for their investment. The results showed by real estate services company, Studley, said the trend is driving the demand for commercial real estate.
An increasing number of Chinese application for EB-5 Visa where non-citizens invest at least $ 500,000 in a company in the United States, as they try to park their wealth offshore to escape the effects of an anti-corruption drive home.
Australia has a similar scheme for those who invest more than $4 million, with 90 percent of applicants from China. Australian property has long been popular with Chinese but investment has accelerated since the beginning of the anti-graft campaign in the last year.
Studley said about 6,400 people are on the waiting list for an EB-5 visa, and that it expects that this year higher numbers would be achieved by September, compared with the end of August last year.
There were almost 10,700 EB-5 visas issued in the last year by up to 25 percent higher than 2013 from the Chinese mainland, accounting for 85 percent of the recipients compared to 81 percent a year earlier, Studley said.
The U.S. property services company said the increase has proved to be an important source of capital for developers, with Chinese investment in U.S. commercial real estate jumping to 78 percent compared to the previous year to $ 5.7 billion.
The EB-5 program also drives the prices of residential real estate, real estate agents said. Many Chinese immigrants with the EB-5 Visa live in less expensive States such as Texas and North Carolina, she said.
“Some of them don’t speak English and can’t find a job, so they buy four or five houses to generate rental income where the real estate prices are cheaper, but can still give you a 6-7% return,” said Houston-based agent Gladys Wang.
