EU-based golden visa programmes have grown in popularity among wealthy South African investors
Due to renewed interest from South Africans wanting to emigrate to the world’s largest economy, the organisers of one of the US’s golden visa programmes have gone on a local marketing drive in SA.
Various EU-based golden visa programmes have grown in popularity among wealthy South African investors, with a number of them buying properties in Malta and Portugal and receiving EU citizenship in the process. This has prompted US firms to try and lure well-heeled South Africans to the US instead. LCR Capital Partners, a US private equity firm that helps global investors earn US residency via the EB-5 programme, says it believes SA has many strong candidates for the programme.
"While the new Trump administration’s recent executive orders suspending travel from certain countries has dominated headlines for weeks now, it is not to be confused with legal immigration, particularly when it comes to golden visas, technically referred to as EB-5 investment visas," LCR co-founder Rogelio Caceres said.
"Regulated immigration by wealthy individuals looking to do business in the US is encouraged as it is a key creator of jobs, especially in underdeveloped areas, as it stimulates economic growth by creating US jobs attracting foreign direct investment without putting pressure on the local tax base," he said.
Administered by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, EB-5 allows investors the opportunity to acquire US permanent residency, by way of a green card for themselves and their immediate families. An amount of $500,000 must be invested for five years towards new businesses that in turn create a minimum of 10 US-based jobs per investor.
"Since 2013, about 100 South Africans including their families, have taken advantage of the programme," said Caceres.