Businesssweek recently had an article highlighting the EB-5 program and it’s increasing importance to the US economy, especially during the on-going recession that looks like it could get worse before it gets better. Some day the politicos in Washington will wake up to the realities and benefits of this program and streamline the process. USCIS has in fact already started to do that, proposing significant enhancements to the EB-5 program to make it more appealing and effective.

In addition, new focus is being placed on the Startup America initiative created by the White House earlier this year to spur foreign investors and investments in the US economy.

Bloomberg recently reported on the return of the high-end real estate market throughout the US in those markets that are traditionally popular for the foreign elite, including perhaps the most conspicuous spending Russians. Although these purchases might make long-term investment sense, it seems the primary motivation is a more simple one: to one-up their peer oligarchs.

This goes hand-in-hand with our experience on the EB-5 market as affluent investors use the EB-5 program to gain permanent residency in the United States to either enjoy their newly bought mansions, send their children to school in the US, or leave themselves an escape hatch in the event things get dicey back in the motherland.